06.19.2013 12:13 PM

“Stupid blogger” on Bob Rae

11 Comments

  1. !o! says:

    Not surprised, he (was) my MP… not sure if I’d be nearly as happy with Smitherman.

  2. palmerston says:

    This is incredibly disappointing. Smitherman? That’s the best you’ve got? Sorry dude, no can do. Keep searching.

  3. frmr disgruntled Con now Happy Lib says:

    I am disappointed, as I thought Mr. Rae was going to be there to be the eminence grise to Justin Trudeau, as Allan J. MacEachen was to P.E.T.
    Parliament is lessened by his departure….a class act always, and I was proud to call him my leader.

  4. Mona says:

    How will history remember Rae’s NDP record and then converting to a Liberal? Is he a Lib-Dipper or Dip-Libber, or is he just another old politician fading away? He certainly has more political chops than Justin.

    Personally, I think Bob couldn’t tolerate watching Trudeau getting all the accolades while he is just a has-been who abandoned the Liberal party rather than go through the conversion to Trudeau’s Liberal party.

    • que sera sera says:

      Personally I think the mean spirited petty vindictiveness you want to attribute to a class act like Rae rightly belongs at the feet of Stephen Harper, the charismatically challenged mailroom boy who never met a sucker he didn’t punch – below the belt.

      The perfect dip for your chip.

      • PeggyW says:

        Amen

      • Mona says:

        Whoa there… Bob did’t die and we must sing his praises; he quit the Liberal party to cash out in his twilight years as a politico-lawyer representing aboriginal claims on resource companies. I bet the FN laid out a big big bucks to land the likes of Bob Rae, and will let him dip his beak in any victories that come their way courtesy of Bob’s legal eagle talents.

        As for Bob and Stephen, all I can remember is Bob’s look of shock when he came in third place behind politically-challenged Dion and carpetbagger Iggy. Then there was his abject look when he was talked into stepping aside for Iggy. Jilted twice and then again when forced out of running for leader again, ceding to charismatic Justin Trudeau.

        Poor Bob, jilted three times and couldn’t stand the prospect of shoring up Justin as he trains for PM… Bob’s obvious ambition destroyed. Even Harper feared Rae would run for Liberal leader so the CPC created a preemptive attack ad to keep Bob out of the race, and it worked … Harper got the Liberal leader he preferred — Quebecer Justin Trudeau. Live with that reality.

        • Michael says:

          Don’t the Conservatives call that free enterprise?

        • Tiger says:

          Wasn’t Rae doing his work for the Northern Ontario FNs pro bono?

          I think he stood aside because it’d be awkward still having him around in Parliament. Old leaders generally go away.

          As for his legacy, I think Liberals now think that he would have been a better choice for leader in 2006 than the two who ended up becoming leader — Dion and then Ignatieff. (Not sure whether that is actually true — perhaps Harper then would have won his first majority in 2007 instead of in 2011, with a bunch of those Toronto suburban seats. Would have been a far different campaign. But it’s clear that Rae understood Parliament more than his competitors — in a 2008-style Parliament, he’d have moved to form a coalition before the Throne Speech.)

          Anyway, it’s big news. Someone first elected to Parliament in 1978, a former premier, and a former leader, has hanged it up.

          • Mona says:

            Yes, Bob as Liberal leader would have sought a coalition/merger with the NDP when the Liberals were still on top. I remember Chretien advocating some kind of unity with the NDP to stop Harper. Didn’t happen.

            As for Rae working pro bono for the FN while a MP just shows you the difference between him and Justin who said he wasn’t an MP when on a speaking gig, and an MP while in the HOCs. Stark difference of ethics… eh?

  5. PeggyW says:

    Only related to this thread because it deals with ex-leaders, but I just watched Preston Manning on Power & Politics, and I need to say he is totally full of shit. Its irritating to see him interviewed as some oracle of wisdom.Not on Bob Rae”s level at all.

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