Pulling in the Liberal Welcome mat!

As the pretenders and contenders line up their supporters and campaign dollars, not everyone is welcoming some of the newcomers to the Liberal fold.

Former Ontario Premier David Peterson for one would be quite happy if former socialist Premier Bob Rae would keep his NDP membership card payments up to date. With Rae making plans to enter the Liberal leadership campaign, the former Liberal Premier is suggesting that it’s a bit of a stretch for Rae to make the jump from the NDP to the Liberal machine

Or as Peterson put it rather succinctly, "Here's a guy, a lot of people went to war with him and now he wants to lead the army without even enlisting." One guesses that this means that General Peterson doesn’t quite see eye to eye with would be General Rae on all matters Liberal.

This despite the fact that Rae took out Liberal party membership this week in his bid to become Supreme Commander of Liberal forces in Canada.

Many of Rae’s closest advisors claim he’s changed his political philosophy over the years and doesn’t have quite the same outlook on things as that which guided his rather tumultuous term as leader of Canada’s largest province.

Despite some bloodline ties to the Liberals (his brother John was a key member of the Jean Chretien era of Liberalism, which may not actually be of help but at least it does paint a picture of familiarity with the Liberal brand) he is still viewed with suspicion by many of those that remain in the Liberal fold.

Peterson even goes so far as to suggest that old Tories Belinda Stronach and Scott Brison would stand a better chance of achieving the title, simply by having fought in the trenches for at least one campaign under the Liberal banner.

Peterson says his thoughts are not those of a man with sour grapes, Peterson found his own tenure as leader of the money province cut short when Rae surprised the political class by winning election as Premier. Instead, he says it’s with a clear head and a sense of what the Liberal militants will think when push comes to shove that gives him cause to warn Rae off.

For his part Peterson would have preferred to have seen former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna take the plunge, but with McKenna begging off, Peterson is leaning towards Toronto academic Michael Ignatieff. A fellow who has impressed him nicely, while Rae leaves him rather cold.

At any rate, one place he won’t be parking his vote or support is in the camp of Bob Rae. And when it comes time to line up the troops, Rae can expect the forces of Peterson to be ready on the flanks to bring down his battle plan. If this kind of stuff keeps up, the Liberals will be able to sell their election coverage to the Military Channel.