Dwight Duncan For PM

I still think Dwight will go for it.

A Conservative insider claims that someone is doing polling in town asking people for whom they would vote in a 3-way race amongst Comartin, Duncan and Halberstadt for the Conservatives. Yes THAT, Halberstadt, the Councillor.

My Conservative friend thinks that would be a great 3-way race. After the Liberals and NDP beat themselves up, then Halberstadt would sneak up the middle a la Stephen Dion and the new Alberta Premier, Ed Stelmach.

Why would Alan consider it---heck the pay and pension are better. Alan is up to something as I wrote the other day. It could be Mayor or something better.

Now I have had 2 of Dwight's close political friends tell me 2 conflicting stories. One said I could quote him about running federally while the other said Dwight won't run federally and wants to be leader of the Provincial Party one day.

Sure and a third Liberal insider told me some time ago that Dwight didn't learn to speak French to keep running in Ontario!

Dwight did have his forces primed up during the municipal campaign after all as a trial run for something else perhaps or perhaps just for the fall Provincial election. I heard they ran 3 Ward fights. In one, although lots of non-Liberals were involved, some of the brain-trust were Dwight's friends and Liberals too.

Who was the big winner at the Liberal leadership convention. None other than Dwight. But he backed the wrong candidate you say.

Dwight was a key guy in Ignatieff's campaign, especially being co-Chair in Ontario, the Liberal strong-hold. Sure Dwight's guy came in second but he was an academic who had only been around for a short time politically. Dwight did a magnificent job. He met every important Liberal in Canada doing this too.

What the Toronto Star said was not too complimentary to Dion just before the leadership vote:

• "Stéphane Dion, like Ignatieff, is an intellectual, admired for his robust defence of Canadian unity and the Clarity Act against secession. He is a principled man. As a former environment minister, he is the "greenest" of the front-runners, vowing to make Canada a force in the emerging global sustainable economy. But Dion is hamstrung chiefly by a perceived lack of charisma, by a reputation for rigidity, by his English which can falter under pressure and by a sense that after 16 years under Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin, the party is due for a leader from outside Quebec."

So when Dion gets slaughtered in the next federal election and leaves the leadership, guess who will be right there.... Dwight Duncan who did NOT run and hide like some of his big name Liberal competitors! Dwight's name and profile will be up there. He will know how to run a national leadership campaign. What a comeback!