The Redoubtable Leader

How proud they felt of themselves at the Liberal leadership convention, to have selected a sterling compromise between front-running contenders Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff in the brilliantly academic personage of a man of great personal integrity, courage and resolute political acumen.

How they feted themselves in having demonstrated the perspicacity of recognizing Stephane Dion's immeasurable qualities of a leader par excellence.

The Liberal Party of Canada was triumphantly resurgent, prepared to pick itself out of the dust of political ignominy to take its place yet again as the natural leadership party of the country. Its long reign merely interrupted. A mere inconvenience.

Assembling a new team, a dream team of the best the country could offer in political bright lights to lead it back from the aberrant perdition the folly of its previous leadership hubris had dumped it into. Glad-handing corruption, after all, does not reflect the values of the Liberal Party, despite all signs to the contrary. However ...

Instead of surging ahead from strength to strength, the Liberal Party under its squeaky-clean leader has sagged from one embarrassing hyperbolic position to another, finally succumbing to the need to support all of the Conservative government's positions, under duress. That duress being the fear of facing a precipitate election, despite constantly agitating for and threatening to bring down the House.

The puerile, shrilly pathetic performance of a leader rising on a high horse of perpetual pout only to stumble time and again into a cesspool of hog-wallow falling off that horse, has presented the public with an unfortunate spectacle of failure. From inveighing against the Conservatives' throne speech, the Afghanistan mission extension, the crime bill, the government's budget, and finally the proposed amendments to immigration law.

Then stumbling backward in disarray, falling all over themselves and the other parties, offering face-saving minor amendments, then standing down in the voting process, enabling the business of government to proceed as it would. Very impressive performance, overall. So much so that support in Quebec has plummeted, senior party organizers openly critical. Seats lost in critical Liberal-safe ridings elsewhere in the country.

And the party's campaign coffers languishing for want of attention from traditional donors. The public perception of the outstanding leadership qualities of Stephane Dion in the deep freeze. Most male voters perceive him as appealing as a wet dishrag; he fares little better with female voters. There are undercurrents of rebellion among party faithful. His previous leadership contenders, now bulwarks of his shadow cabinet ... conspire.

Sixteen months of outstanding success.