Jane Taber reminds us of something that did not quite ring true in Michael Ignatieff's reaction this week to polls showing he's the least popular federal leader and that the Liberals are plumbing Dion levels of support.
Shortly after becoming leader, Mr. Ignatieff said: "Don't trifle with me. Don't try this rough stuff with me," Ms. Taber writes, "warning Conservatives he was no pushover like Stéphane Dion."
If one checks the record, one finds that it was not the Conservatives who "did a number on" Mr. Ignatieff. Rather, he was the author of his own misfortune. Indeed, the Conservatives - no doubt chastened by their near-death experience, and needing Liberal support for the budget - were on their best behaviour in the months after he became leader.
Notably, the Conservatives did not take to the airwaves with attack ads as they had done to define and ultimately demolish Mr. Dion's leadership. It was not until after Mr. Ignatieff unwisely threatened to bring down the government in late summer that the Conservatives brought out their heavy artillery.
Canadians, facing the prospect of a recession that some were likening to the Great Depression, were at that point primed for the Conservative message that Mr. Ignatieff was "in it for himself."