It's possible that Stephen Harper may be well on his way to becoming one of the most successful Liberal prime ministers in many years. He may even be close to achieving his long sought goal of seeing the Conservatives replace the Liberals as Canada's natural governing party. If he gets there he will have done it in the good old-fashioned Liberal way.
It's a long time since he and the Reformers came riding into town from the West guns blazing, contemptuous of everything having to do with Ottawa. Not for those penny-pinching moralists, fancy dress balls, fat bureaucrats and soft-on-crime judges. But Stephen Harper knew that a base that narrow would never take them to national power.
He undertook the tricky business of putting his shoulder under the Conservative Party once he and Peter MacKay had brought it together and heaved it into the political centre. Which is where that great Liberal thinker Keith Davey used to say is where Canadians are at, and where elections are won.
Having seized that high ground, Harper went on to seize three of the most skillful liberal techniques for getting and holding power.
Divide the enemy forces and thus weaken them. That's why the Conservative Government these days is doing anything it can to help Jack Layton look good. Whenever the NDP runs strong it bleeds votes from the Liberals, electing Conservatives in many ridings.
For years, Conservatives including Mr. Harper railed against big spending liberalism. Then along came the global economic meltdown. It allowed Harper to get the gold medal as the biggest spender of them all; even better, doing it without any blame being attached.
Since bribing Canadians with their own tax money worked so well for years for Liberals, Conservatives aren't going to let Canadians forget to whom they owe thanks for all that cash flowing into their communities.
Finally, of all the arts of Liberal necromancy, none served them better than this: do whatever, say whatever to win.
Once in government leaders always find ways to fudge and muddify past pledges.
Remember Chretien's no GST, Pierre Trudeau's no wage and price controls. And Harper's promise to pensioners that he would never eliminate dividend paying income trusts.
Come to think of it, who was it that was a strict disciplinarian, a pillar of the business community and almost certainly a small "c" conservative when he entered politics?
Why, Mackenzie King of course, who was always comfortable being whatever he had to be at any given moment.
So step aside Mackenzie, make way for the new King, Harper...maybe.
Watch for Craig Oliver's commentary on Power Play with Tom Clark (CTV News Channel, weekdays at 5 and 8 pm ET) and CTV's Question Period (Sundays on CTV and CTV News Channel, check local listings).
