So not a leader, episode III

The current leader of the Liberal Party of Canada served up more evidence today of why he isn't fit to lead a toga party, let alone a major federal political party.

Dion announced earlier on Friday in a joint news conference with [Elizabeth] May that he won't be running a candidate against the Green Party leader in the Central Nova riding, which is currently held by Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay.

Jean Chretien must be cringing at the news of Dion's deal with May, which in effect gives up a seat without a fight. Even with no Liberal candidate in the riding, Elizabeth May still doesn't stand a snowball's chance in globally warmed Nova Scotia of winning.

For her part of the "deal", May has agreed not to run a Green Party candidate against Dion in his own Montreal riding. Environment Minister John Baird hinted that Dion's deal might be related his slipping popularity in his own riding:

"To have to make a deal with the leader of a fifth party to try to save his own seat and prop her up just leaves you scratching your head," Baird said.

Human Resources Minister Monty Solberg:

"I'm surprised to see ... (Dion's) first major electoral decision is to concede defeat,'' Solberg said on Friday.

"I sat in the House of Commons for a long time and battled every day with people like Jean Chretien -- someone who never backed away from a fight."

It's not just the Conservatives who are bewildered at this move. CTV's Robert Fife refers to Dion's deal with the Greens as "bizarre", while Paul Wells pokes some fun at Citizen Dion at McLeans.

Meanwhile, at Dust My Broom, Darcy takes a look at Federal Green Party candidate Kevin Potvin.

“When I saw the first tower cascade down into that enormous plume of dust and paper, there was a little voice inside me that said, ‘Yeah!’ When the second tower came down the same way, that little voice said, ‘Beautiful!’ When the visage of the Pentagon appeared on the TV with a gaping and smoking hole in its side, that little voice had nearly taken me over, and I felt an urge to pump my fist in the air,” Mr. Potvin wrote in the editorial.

Does Dion really understand who he's getting to bed with? Colby Cosh says "the deal seems likely to be remembered as the point of no return on the road to disaster."

Trying to find some sense in this move, Andrew Coyne says the real target is the NDP.

But you know Dion is in trouble when the normally Lib-friendly Globe and Mail prints a comment like this:

'Not running a candidate in MacKay's riding is truly the stupidest thing that a group of people who wrote the book on stupid things have done yet. Dion still thinks he's at the convention brokering deals. He better realize elections are one ballot.' One long-time Liberal, on reports that the Liberal and Green Party leaders had struck a deal that would see the Liberals stay out of Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay's Central Nova riding. In exchange, the Green Party won't field a candidate in Dion's Montreal riding.

Ouch.

Update: Nova Scotia Liberals warned yesterday that they thought Dion was "off his rocker" for considering a deal with May.