The Liberal Leadership, as far as unity goes, comes down to two choices: old roomates Bob Rae and Michael Ignatieff. Stephane Dion cannot win; he is too professorial, too unpopular in Quebec, and too Plan B.

So which of the roommates do we prefer? Both have plusses.

Rae has enormous experience in the constitutional file, a nuanced sense of the country and an eloquent delivery in both languages. He could carry the ball in heading off RIII, and he could fight it too. We call him the "soft Plan A" option.

Ignatieff has a more cosmo-nationalist sense of the unity file, which we also like. This space has preached on Canada's unity in the context of the world for a decade; federalism is the operating system of spaceship earth, after all.

While more untested, we think a leader with Ignatieff's mettle would settle well for Canadians in all regions, once people get to know him as a serious candidate who does not fuss around with lesser ideas like separatism. his is a "hard Plan A".

What would work better in the next round, once the PQ stumbles or launches back into office? It is too early to tell which side of the dorm to choose.

In any case, it looks like after 13 years of Liberal inaction, Harper has jumped both roomates to the Plan A approach.