We’ve heard a lot of about Denis Coderre’s “leadership ambitions” this week. And, at least among Liberals I know outside of Quebec, this topic has usually drawn snickers.

Coderre certainly didn’t help his already Volpeskian chances by going out in a self-destructive blaze of glory Monday, blaming the party’s problems on a Toronto-heavy brain trust. Maybe it was a clever ploy to position himself as an outsider against Toronto in a future leadership race – but given what we know about Coderre, I have some doubts about that.

Then again, perhaps the LPC isn’t the Liberal Party Coderre hopes to one day lead. Given his organizational muscle in the province, he’d certainly be a legitimate contender provincially once Jean Charest eventually calls it a day. And distancing himself from the federal Liberals and playing the “Toronto card” probably won’t hurt him among the Quebec militants.

I don’t have any anonymous senior Liberal strategists to go on for this – just the musings of a fairly bright Liberal who floated the idea to me yesterday. But it’s a theory that makes a bit of sense once you think about it.