Lawrence Martin reports from Camelot-on-the-Rideau:
He is lacking in a common touch, as most patricians are, and in a party that needs mending, this will be a problem. Some Liberal MPs find him coldly arrogant. They cite his performance at a caucus meeting last Friday where he warned, perhaps wisely, against being gung-ho on a coalition. “Michael got up and did a rant and it was a disaster,” said one participant. “His finger was jabbing at us. He was saying, ‘Don’t you assume that if we bring down the government that the Governor-General will let us govern.’ Well, we weren’t assuming that anyway.
“So then he keeps going on and his damn finger keeps jabbing at us and he’s well over his time limit. People are shouting, ‘Time! Time! Order! Order! Sit down!’ But he just kept going. And when he finally left the microphone, no one stood up for him. Not even his supporters clapped.”
