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“You had an option, sir,” Brian Mulroney thundered at John Turner. “You could have said, ‘I am not going to do it’,” Mulroney went on, in reference to the slew of patronage appointments Turner refused to block following the retirement of Pierre Trudeau. Turner was stumped. Game, set, and 24 Sussex to Mulroney.

This little bit of political porn has undoubtedly been unspooling in Justin Trudeau’s mind as he prepares for his first national election campaign. A media report this week revealed Trudeau has been preparing for the leaders’ debate for months now, which tells you everything you need to know about how much the Liberals are counting on them to help unseat Harper.

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The Mulroney-Turner exchange is the archetypal “knock out” blow, and is widely credited with making Mulroney prime minister, where he would go on to demonstrate his own considerable patronage prowess.

It’s also, incidentally, about the only exchange that’s ever been a true knockout blow. Remember that great exchange between Jean Chrétien and Stock Day? Me neither.