Well, it seems clear that this one is going to dominate the blogosphere so, if you haven’t seen the Dion clip yet, here it is.

A few random thoughts:

1. I think the clip is actually fairly benign. It was a poorly worded question that Dion wanted clarified (Cherniak actually has a pretty funny line about that). That said, it certainly won’t help Dion given that it plays in to the narrative the Tories are trying to write, and the timing definitely isn’t great.

2. What’s said in an interview, even during a false start, is fair game. If CTV had agreed not to air it then backtracked, then that is a little underhanded but they certainly didn’t have to agree to not air it. Either way, blaming CTV or Mike Duffy would be a mistake on the part of the Liberals since, to the best of my knowledge, Mike Duffy isn’t running for anything this election.

3. The Tories’ decision to pile onto this was

a) not surprising
b) not necessary
c) not helpful

Check out Don Martin’s reaction (who thinks about as highly of Dion as Chantal Hebert does). This was going to be news regardless – why they wouldn’t let Duffy be the bad guy, I don’t know. James Moore played it smartly on Duffy – the oft maligned Tory war room did not.

Oh, and guess who’s speaking at a Dion rally tomorrow? If there’s anybody who can turn this issue around, it’s Jean.