Ibbitson and Taber agree with me

A few hours after I wrote The Liberals Going Forward, arguing that the Liberals have turned tables, and, rather than having only plans for a quick election, have a longer term strategy in effect here, a Globe and Mail article appeared outlining what I wrote.

Well, they wrote it better:

This latest turn of events leaves both Mr. Harper and NDP Leader Jack Layton facing the delicate political dance of keeping each other happy without surrendering the final vestiges of party ideology.

The winner in all of this, politically, may well be Michael Ignatieff. The Liberal Leader was determined at all costs to avoid the trap that ensnared his predecessor, Stéphane Dion, who was forced repeatedly to prop up Mr. Harper's first government, rather than fight an election the Liberals correctly suspected they would not win.

When the Liberals withdrew support for the government two weeks ago, conventional wisdom held that they had made a serious mistake, as the Tories pushed ahead in the polls and a fall vote seemed increasingly ill-omened for the Official Opposition.

But with the embattled NDP now apparently resigned to keeping the government alive, the Liberals can play the role of a proper government-in-waiting, while also deriding the NDP for its failure of political courage.

Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc told reporters outside the House of Commons that the day's events proved “the NDP is for sale and for not a very high price.”

Ouch!

And this, if true, hits on a theme I'm been pushing: You have to lead opinion to win, not follow it. At least, that's part of the key to this crazy electoral mess we are in:

And Mr. Ignatieff showed no signs of backing away from his pre-election strategy when he addressed his troops at the closed-door caucus session Wednesday.

“You need to stand up to win,” he told his MPs and senators, according to an insider. His words were greeted with enthusiastic applause, though many of those MPs are quietly relieved that they won't be compelled to meet the voters this fall.

Can he follow through? Here's my issue: Why would I vote for him? I like the political strategy in use, but I want to see good policy and reliability. (Queue the dippers...)