Igwatch

So, everyone is asking, "What do we think of this Ignatieff fellow?" So far opinion in these pages breaks down as follows:

white-hot hatred: 20%
he's ruthless and intelligent, good: 20%
turns too many people off -- he's toast: 20%
ambivalent/undecided: 20%
ambivalent with overtones of Judith Krantz: 20%

Dr. B. herself is still waiting for the full graphological analysis of that wobbly signature on the Coalition petition, but will come up with an opinion in due course. In the mean time, she notes that Ignatieff made exactly the right noises yesterday:

- a coalition if necessary, but not necessarily a coalition ("You don't vote against a budget you haven't read.")

- ...someone asked him at his first press conference how he would cope with attack ads from the Conservatives. With a look of defiance and a rising voice, Mr. Ignatieff warned Mr. Harper that in the middle of a parliamentary crisis, "it would be a very serious mistake" to do so.

- major project will be to win back dingbat vote fixated on 1980 Trudeau energy policy [ed. note -- project phrased somewhat differently by M.I.]

- and the good bit: "I don't take lessons in legitimacy from Stephen Harper."

Stick up, into the boards, a clean hit and off we go. Good. Because if there's one thing everybody knows about Stephen Harper, it's that he's a bully. And if there's one thing Canadian voters hate, judging by the fortunes of Stephane Dion, it's a bully's victim.