The problem is simple: the Liberals need more votes. The solution is far from obvious.

Jean Charest’s impressive majority victory in the December 8, 2008 Quebec election should, at best, be met by conservatives with a collective shrug. The return to power of the Quebec Liberals is no great cause for enthusiasm, but no reason to fret either. The results confirm a regrettable truism of Canadian politics that if you do essentially nothing and govern simply by trying to offend the least number of people possible, you will likely be rewarded at the polls.

Oh how we Canadians love to dwell on our “national identity.” As narcissistic as it seems, though, maybe we should do more of it. Because then we might discover, as Adam Daifallah did in this thoughtful piece, how contrived our modern identity is, and how unfaithful it is to the vision and intent of our nation’s founders.

Only one presidential trip in memory has resulted in the creation of a famous political saying. From Richard Nixon’s seminal visit to China in 1972 came the “Nixon Goes to China Rule” of politics, the crux of which is that the politician perceived to be least likely to do something will actually have the easiest time doing it.