It seems as though people can't get away from the Liberal Party leadership fast enough. Following the Liberal defeat at the hands of the Conservative Party in the January 23 election and the subsequent resignation of Paul Martin as Liberal leader, potential candidates have been running away from the job like it's got the plague.

First former Deputy Prime Minister John Manley took his name out of consideration citing "personal reasons". Next Frank McKenna, the former US ambassador and perceived front-runner, decided he didn't want to go back for the "cheese". Finally Brian Tobin, who Canadians will remember as the guy responsible for shooting at Spanish fishing trawlers,( yeah I know Canadian National Security is more concerned with cod then terrorism which I think is a good thing personally) withdrew his name saying he wanted to spend more time with his family.

Here's a quick look at who we have left based on some initial thoughts by "experts". (read CBC)

Belinda Stronach:
She proved during the last election that it doesn't matter what side you're on as long as you're hot and blond. Unfortunately she only has slightly more experience in politics than the guy who ran your high school student council. Having left the Conservatives just last year, I'd find it difficult to imagine her as the head of the Liberals especially considering their negative campaign against that vilified the right.

Scott Brison:
One of the few openly gay MPs. Brison would be the first openly gay leader of a Major political party which would be cool. While he's not hot and blond, he was a conservative up until a few years ago and like Belinda ran for the leadership of that party.

Michael Ignatieff:
Honestly I've never heard of this guy before. After living in the US for the last 30 years Ignatieff returned in the summer of 2005 as the air apparent to the Paul Martin. The former director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at Harvard University ran and won in a Toronto area riding 5 months after his return to Canada. Undoubtedly the intellectual front runner.

Bob Rae:
Former New Democratic Party (NDP) Premier, (is anyone else starting to see a pattern here?) of Ontario. Was not popular with Ontario voters. Could help draw NDP voters back to the Liberal Party and would work easily with Jack Layton and the NDP.

So where does that leave the Liberal Party? Of the four main candidates 3 of them ran for other parties and one hasn't lived in Canada for 30 years. It's going to be an interesting Leadership race.

One last thing of note. The fact that there are candidates with significant ties to other parties does speak to the relatively narrow swath that Canadian parties occupy on the political spectrum. Despite what may seem like major values differences politics in Canada has been and probably always will be very much in the centre. Now if we can only get the actual politicians to realize this we might actually get a functioning parliament this time around.

For more see CBC's coverage of the Liberal Party Leadership problems.