Dogged by internal strife and haunted by the sponsorship scandal the Liberals badly need to change the channel and the only way of doing this is introduce controversial legislation. Talk of Dion being mischaracterized in Quebec is not going to interest the media for very long. There is a policy void at the center of the Liberal party and if the party does nothing to correct the situation the media will successfully define the Liberals as being a divided party with no clear direction or focus.

The party has long understand the importance of having ideological enemies, whether that the Bush administration or Canadian social conservatives. However, the party has always thought it could wage such ideological wars on the cheap. It could talk a good game, but it thought need not follow through with policy. It was never an entirely successful approach and since Stephen Harper took over the party the law of diminishing returns as set in. Indeed, Harper has all but put a stop to nut bars, such as, Gallant waxing poetic on issues near and dear to social conservatives and he has not openly courted the social conservatives in the way that he did before becoming PM.

I find the Liberal’s half ass approach baffling. SSM and the Liberal decision to stay out of Iraq were major Liberal victories and perhaps the only two of the last 4 years. If the Liberals are to avoid being defined by their own bickering, they have no choice but to goad social conservatives and or the Bush administration into open warfare and the only way of doing that is propose policies that neither likes. If the mountain won't come to Muhammad, Muhammad must go to the mountain.

As I have said repeatedly, if the Liberals promise to legalize marijuana, the social conservatives and the Bush administration will bite and Harper will be at the mercy of these two groups. The added bonus is if Dion promises to legalize marijuana, thereby imperiling the US War on Drugs, he will not lack for name recognition. Not only will Canadians know who he is, so too will Americans, and good number of Europeans and Australians.