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Eve Adams didn’t just appeal for entry into the Liberal Party. Her application was personally received by the leader. Trudeau sat with Adams on national TV. For whatever reason, it was determined that she was a catch – and that the sight of turncoat Soudas might rattle some frayed nerves in the Harper PMO. Who knows, maybe it did.

But now the Liberals have to decide what to do with her. Although the nomination is technically open, early signals clearly identified Adams as the preferred choice. Local Liberals were left to assume that they should choke back their disgust and support Adams and Soudas. All things considered, that’s probably what they should still do.

This notion will strike some as incomprehensible but politics is a team sport and the party leader heads that team. Occasionally voting for something or someone you dislike because the leader wants it comes with the territory. Such discipline is vital in politics. It enables the reliable functioning of our big-tent, brokerage party system. And that system has served Canada well by forging stability in spite of pronounced regional, linguistic and cultural tensions.

It could be argued that voting for or against Adams won’t cause Canada to disintegrate or destroy the party system. On balance, that’s probably correct. But dumping her would almost certainly be seen as a rebuff to Trudeau just as he prepares for the coming election. Even with recent signals that the party brass is genuinely agnostic about the outcome – that they wouldn’t interpret her defeat as a slight (notice that former interim leader Bob Rae has endorsed Adams’ opponent) – the question of how her refusal would play out in the current political climate must be considered.