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As Liberals across the country swigged champagne and gave triumphant speeches to screaming crowds, Bob Rae was hunkered down with the old-timers at a TV studio.

Just like Brian Mulroney and Joe Clark, the ex-Liberal leader was spending Election Night as a pundit, filling the airtime between real news.

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“The last thing the leader wants is to have people going on television, campaigning for some job or other,” said Rae when asked if he might suddenly have a gig with any apparent Liberal government.

“I don’t need a title and I don’t need a job, the leader knows that I’m on his team and I’m happy to help him in any way he wants.”

I don’t need a title and I don’t need a job, the leader knows that I’m on his team and I’m happy to help him in any way he wants

Of course, it was the boilerplate statement of humility for an ex-politician who insiders agree is almost guaranteed a role in the new government he is widely credited in helping to create.

“You could do a lot worse than Bob Rae,” said John McKay who, along with the former Ontario premier, was one of the 34 Liberal MPs who survived the thrashing of 2011.