"...and that scares me."

Babble on.

Victor at Canada Free Press Blog has an interesting post up about Michael Ignatieff.

Attractive, articulate, and obviously intelligent, Ignatieff seems to have an inside track as future leader of the Liberal Party. After his keynote speech at last month’s Liberal convention, I get the impression that many Grits see him as a potentially rejuvenating force in an increasingly moribund, directionless party. Somebody like Pierre Trudeau, who also came from outside the party to lead the Liberals to glory.

Now I think the Trudeau comparison is apt – and that scares me. Both are visionary, charismatic academics with a strong desire to leave their mark on Canada.

While Victor goes on to point out where Ignatieff breaks ranks with his fellow Liberals - notably on foreign policy - he doesn't connect the very last dot and remind us that this is also where the Trudeau comparison breaks down. Because the unvarnished truth about Trudeau is that for all his charismatic vision of Canada, he gazed "at a distant world from Ottawa, looking at it through a long, narrow straw."

Which leaves me wondering if a more accurate model for Ignatieff's potential might be Tony Blair - with all the good and bad that that comparison implies.

Time to start recruiting better Conservative talent, is all I've got to say.

Babble off.