Taber and Wells on Studio 2

Caught the Globe's Jane Taber and Maclean's Paul Wells on tonight's TVO Studio 2.

Steve Paiken (brilliant debate host from Monday night) asked why everybody was talking about the Liberal Red Book leak, and not the Liberal Red Book itself.

Paul Wells' reply was "because there's nothing in it!" He went on to characterize it as the least forward-looking Red Book in a decade, and that it made Jean Chretien look like Lincoln and Mahatma Ghandi rolled into one. Although it speaks to the rising importance of the thoroughly dead and beaten horse that is Chindia (at least in terms of Globe&Mail special reports), the Liberal platform proposes nothing new whatsoever to deal with it.

And as Jane Taber piped in, it contains no reference to that central plank of Martin's debate performance, the removal of the Notwithstanding Clause. Made up on the fly. Big surprise.

Paiken solicited advice for Harper and Martin in the last week and a half:

Taber: Harper needs to keep his cool and keep a lid on his team, and Martin, well, she doesn't know what she'd say to Martin.

Wells: Martin will be tempted to go negative hard like in 2004, but acting dignified might be a novel approach. And if he's going to go, he might as well go out dignified.

This corner would much prefer he go out kicking and screaming. Preferably to the gleeful cackling of the JeanFather.