Is the star of former Liberal leader Stephane Dion about to rise again over Ottawa?

As federal Liberals mull who might be the interim party leader after Michael Ignatieff stepped down last week, one name has surfaced as a possibility: Stephane Dion.

After his disastrous - not as disastrous as Ignatieff's - showing at the polls in 2008, many political watchers had already written his obituary.

That even led to a Maclean's magazine article April 16 aptly titled, "Yes, Stéphane Dion is running again" as the incumbent candidate for the Quebec riding of Saint-Laurent— Cartierville.

"He still struggles with the English language. He is still awkward - somehow both stiff and gangly. But people still want to shake his hand and pose for pictures. Little old ladies still want to chat him up," writes Aaron Wherry.

That was then and this is now. The job of interim Liberal leader is open and why would it make sense to consider Dion as a stop-gap measure until a leadership convention is held?

Well, for starters he has experience as the federal Liberal leader. He's well-respected in his riding and parts of Quebec and Canada and more importantly, he doesn't have ambition to take on the job full time again.

The same can't be said for other would-be party leaders such as former Ontario premier Bob Rae, touted as a potential leadership candidate after losing to Ignatieff in his first bid.

Liberal blogger Steve V suggests in his Far and Wide blog Dion might be the logical choice if the party deems it necessary to fill the interim leader position this week, possibly as early as Wednesday.

"With the devastating result last week, Dion is strangely rehabilitated, no longer the leader who brought our "worst defeat", but now part of a process that was obviously much larger and corrosive," he writes.

Some of his reasons for suggesting Dion:

He's bilingual, retained his seat which speaks of stature, he's an "honorable, honest man, nobody has ever disputed this fact.

"Dion is also devoid of future ambitions, as a caretaker ego not an issue, nor any distractions, other than leading during this transition. Dion also has experience, he's lead (sic) caucus, he's lead (sic) a party, he understands the party beyond caucus," Steve V writes.

He closes, "I'm not ruling out Stephane Dion at all. Liberals could do a lot worse at the moment."

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