March 2, 2007 - As soon as I read this article detailing the content of a speech that Stéphane Dion is set to deliver in Dartmouth today, one thought went through my mind: Dion is positioning the Liberals to be the new NDP.

So it was ironic that later in my morning news scan I encountered this piece by Chantal Hébert, which basically determines the same thing.

I have already made it very clear that in my humble opinion, labelling Stephen Harper as a neo-conservative is a strategy that is going to produce little to no returns. Why? Because quite frankly, people don't view the Conservative agenda in that light anymore.

It seems as though the Liberal party isn't quite ready to produce a vision or at the very least the precursor to a platform that the public can attach themselves to. The attacks on the Conservative government have not simultaneously given much of an alternative for Canadians to consider, and because there is not a deep-seeded resentment or anger towards Harper's administration, these criticisms are largely falling on deaf ears.

The best tact that Mr. Dion can employ at this point is to give people a better idea of who he is as a leader and as a person, and present the electorate with a Liberal party that is advancing NEW and fresh ideas about governance and public policy.

This kind of an approach would not include supporting Kyoto as is, for example.

Regardless, it looks like this is the path that the Liberal brain trust is heading down, and sincerely, I wish them all the luck in the world. Accordingly, when I eventually decide which candidates I will be working with, I will also be ready to follow their lead.

I just wish that it was a different route that we were taking.

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