Liberals Eating Crow

This Thanksgiving weekend I'll be thinking about all the blessings in my life while enjoying a turkey dinner with my family. The thought of this traditional Thanksgiving ritual makes me wonder how the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada will pass this holiday weekend. He's not be particularly blessed lately.

Early in September, Michael Ignatieff announced he would no longer support the Conservative government. He said: "Mr. Harper, your time is up" - Globe and Mail Globe and Mail, September 2, 2009. Marlene Jennings, the Liberal MP for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, echoed this sentiment when she added: "The government's goose is cooked" - CBC's the National, September 1, 2009. The Liberals then puffed up their chests and strutted like peacocks. They were going to take down the government at the first possible chance.

A few weeks later and one failed attempt to defeat the government behind them, the Liberals are starting to sing a different song: "Caucus Chair Marc Garneau indicated that the Liberals will evaluate each vote in the House of Commons, and MP Alexandra Mendes agreed that there could be exceptions to categorical opposition to every Conservative bill" - Translated from Hugo de Grandpré, La Presse, October 5, 2009.

There’s even more dissention in the flock:” The biennial convention of the federal Liberal party's Quebec wing... will primarily evaluate the disturbing gap between the Liberal's strategy of calling for the government's downfall at the earliest opportunity, and the pathetic state of their election readiness."-Translated from Vincent Marissal, La Presse, October 5, 2009.

So it sounds like Michael and Marelene must be having crow together on this Thanksgiving weekend. The polls are showing support for the Liberals in a steep swan dive as a direct result of their failed strategy and the party doesn't like it. It seems to me that the Liberal party is starting to realize that it has an albatross around it's neck, namely it's leader.