Consider the emotional state of a Liberal MP. Except for a fortunate minority, members of parliament live insecure lives, never sure that their constituents will send them back to Ottawa in the next election and painfully aware that in 2009 voters don't even want to hear the word "election." Members in this position hope they can quietly hold their jobs a little longer, at least until polls indicate the Liberals are better than tied with the Conservatives.
So of course they tremble as they turn on the news, fearful that their leader, Michael Ignatieff, has once more attacked their shaky confidence. Ignatieff has made the last four or five months in federal politics the season of the bluff, his threats against Stephen Harper's government a memorable performance. The Tories are inadequate and uncaring, he says, and he knows for sure that the Liberals should replace them and will.
Therefore, he threatens to bring the government crashing down. But then he retreats, to the confusion of everyone, especially his party. He has a bizarre way of claiming victory to explain just why he refrains from throwing the rascals out. He insisted early in the summer that he was satisfied for the moment, having wrung a concession from the Conservatives on the issue of Employment Insurance. In fact, the concession was an inquiry that everyone except Ignatieff believes to be not much better than meaningless.
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