Bob Rae Governed Ontario As A left Liberal: Why is it surprising to people that he would run for the Liberal leadership?

During the last couple of weeks the press has been talking about the fact that Bob Rae might run for the leadership of the Liberal Party. The emphasis you see in the news are all about how Rae was the New Democratic Party Premier of Ontario. While I guess the mainstream view I find it strange, especially the idea that this has something to say about the NDP now.

From my point of view Rae made it clear less than a year into his mandate in Ontario that he was an NDPer in name only. His actions were much closer to those of a Liberal leader, albeit a left Liberal leader. But if you go back a couple of decades he would have fit in real nice with the Liberal Party. During the time that Rae was Premier, I was asked several times if I was interested in joining the NDP (when volunteering on campaigns and such) and I categorically refused to join the NDP. I told everyone that I would join---the day that Bob Rae resigned. I was NOT going to join the party until Rae left. And I wasn't the only one. I knew a few people of who destroyed their NDP membership cards and many more that just didn't renew their memberships while Rae was Premier.

Understanding Rae running for the Liberal leadership makes much better sense if you look at how Rae government in Ontario. Rae was fundamentally a Liberal. Why should it be surprising that he would think of running for the leadership of the Liberal Party now? I think he will loose if he does run because he would be too far on the left for the current Liberal Party, but whether he can win the leadership of the Liberal Party and what it might mean if he did, is another discussion.

crossposted to BlogsCanada E-Group