does ignatieff as liberal leader spell the end of our hopes?

I never blog about partisan political maneuverings. It's just not my thing.

But privately, I have been hoping against hope that Bob Rae would be chosen as the next leader of the Liberal party. I worry about his baggage, sure, but I'm betting - or hoping - that most people so bothered by The Baggage Factor would be voting Conservative anyway.

However, Michael Ignatieff as Liberal leader would seem to spell the death of the Liberal-NDP Coalition.

Speaking strictly from an NDP perspective, how can the New Democrats ask us to support someone who laboured for years to promote destructive US foreign policy, including the invasion of Iraq and torture of anyone declared a terrorism suspect?

Although Ignatieff backed away from his stance on Iraq, his writing, especially his frequent features in the New York Times, show his true colours very clearly. I used to read his work - or try to, repulsed as I was by his war-mongering - before I knew he was Canadian, and before I knew I was moving to Canada. I expressed my thoughts on Michael Ignatieff two years ago, and nothing has changed.

We could have lived with Stéphane Dion until May. We could have lived with Bob Rae. But Ignatieff as Liberal leader and the end of the coalition would be a crushing defeat to our hopes for change. I hope I am wrong.