Rae saw the opening, and has taken it

Say what you will, but Bob Rae is no dummy when it comes to playing the political game. Liberal leadership candidate Bob Rae has recognized this coalition for what it is... his one and only shot at winning the Liberal leadership race.

Stop and review the events of the last few days. The coalition idea is proposed. It gathers steam, most Liberal MP's declare that it's open war on the Right Honourable Stephen Harper. They're mad, and they're out for blood... their hatred knows no bounds.

Meanwhile, everyone knows that Iggy, the heir apparent, is playing this one cool... he sees this deal as doomed to failure, and doesn't want to be the guy left holding the bag when it does indeed blow up.

So the Liberals go into caucus yesterday. Dion and Iggy stand up and propose the "wait and see" olive branch approach to the upcoming budget, opening the door for an honourable climb down if the public backlash continues. But the sharks smell blood in the water, and they're having none of this "let's work together" talk. In fact, they actually SHOUT THE TWO OF THEM DOWN... the current, and the likely next, leader of their Party.

With the door open just a crack... in walks the "saviour" of the deal, none other than Bob Rae. Rae is one astute political operator, and with his Power Corp. brother advising his team, see this as the opening they've been looking for. You bet they're going to campaign hard on this one, and use it as the springboard they need to wrest the leadership from Iggy's grasp.

And just you watch, over the next few weeks, as the caucus then begins to rethink supporting the "heir apparent", Michael Ignatieff.

Then think about it long term... Rae is able to use it to win the leadership, which could likely get moved up to sometime January, just in case we go to an election after the Budget goes down. Rae fights this election on the unity platform, but goes down in flames over it... he'll win back some support, but not enough to win. He gets to say afterwards that it wasn't his plan, and trust me, he won't end up wearing it in the eyes of the caucus... everyone will say it was Dion's hairbrained idea, and Bob was just making the best out of a bad situation.

That's my two cents... more like my buck fifty, but you get the idea.