It was like waking up...

In a dirty, smelly motel room... with that gap-toothed, crack smokin' hooker you vaguely remember talkin' to on the way home from the beer parlour... there was a brief moment where you actually didn't believe it was happening.

That's what I remember about the election that brought the NDP to power in Ontario...

With his two Toronto seats secured, a jubilant Dion last night praised Bob Rae as "an architect of the Canada of tomorrow -- a strong voice for Liberal values in Canada and the world."

An equally effusive Rae praised Dion and said Toronto voters had "rejected the politics of fear and negativity embraced by some of our opponents."

Negativity, huh... I guess he's forgetting how warmly Ontarians... even our unionised brethren... rushed to embrace "Rae Days."

With Rae's victory, Dion's "dream team" appears to be falling into place. But Rae's powerful presence in Parliament could also prove a bit of a nightmare for his leader.

Loathed by the political Left as a turncoat who damaged the New Democrat brand through such policies as unpaid mandatory days off for the civil service while he was Ontario premier, Rae is equally disliked by the Right for his deficit-swelling ways from 1990-95.

This is gonna be good.

**********

RELATED: Red Star headline screams congratulations...

Liberals win by-elections

Funny... Quadra was a squeaker and Dion's hand-picked candidate got smoked... but you have to get most of the way through the article to get to...

"The two Toronto ridings were considered sure-fire wins for Dion and his Liberals."

Yeah... same old, same old.

*