Suppose nobody wants the job. Then what do they do?

That’s not going to happen. There will always be someone with an ego big enough to take a chance, some person who believes that they are different and that the public opinion polls are wrong.

And if the polls are correct, well, the history books will show that they were Prime Minister of Canada, even if only for a few days. For some people that may be enough.

I don’t expect Justin Trudeau’s successor to be a political heavyweight. Not given how toxic the Liberal Party brand has become. People with real political ambitions who want to make an impact as Prime Minister, people like Chrystia Freeland and Mark Carney, will probably sit this one out. No reason to run if you know you will get destroyed in an election a couple of weeks later. Unless of course you think you are so compelling that voters will develop collective amnesia and flock to you, even if you are a Liberal. I suppose stranger things have happened.

If the Liberals have any hope of winning the election that seems sure to come by May, they need a leader who is untainted by their association with Justin Trudeau. That can’t be Carney, his principal economic advisor. Or Freeland, who was his most devoted follower until last month.

They could bring in a rookie, someone new to politics, but Prime Minister really isn’t a job for someone with no government experience. When they have tried that in the past it failed miserably.

Their only real hope of a victory might be if they can convince Jody Wilson-Raybould to take the job. She quit Trudeau’s cabinet on principle when he asked her to act unethically (and perhaps illegally). She might be the only federal Liberal left with credibility. I don’t think she wants the job though.

My guess is the victor will be a minor cabinet minister, someone who is content to get their name in the history books, lose the election gracefully and then step down as leader.

Only then will the party truly begin to rebuild after the devastation of the Trudeau years. That’s when you will see the big names throw their hats into the ring.