Another round of Trudeaumania?

Justin Trudeau says he is not running. Same goes for Frank McKenna. According to the poll below, Justin Trudeau would be the best choice to replace Stephane Dion with McKenna and Ignatieff tied in second place. Bob Rae was fourth. Candidates Dominic LeBlanc, Gerard Kennedy, Martha Hall Findlay, Ruby Dhalla and John Manley failed to register any significant support in this pool. Here is a look at some of the potential candidates:

Justin Trudeau - declared he is not interested in the leadership of the Liberal Party at this point in his career

Frank McKenna - also announced he is not running.

Michael Ignatieff - front runner and most likely the next leader

Bob Rae - another front runner candidate

Dominic LeBlanc - the darkhorse or potential compromise candidate. Likely one of the only contenders not from Toronto

John Manley - lacks charisma and likely won't be forgiven for working with Harper. Strong foreign affairs and economic experience at least.

Ken Dryden - huge name recognition but lacks charisma

Gerard Kennedy - likely hurt by playing kingmaker for Dion last time

Scott Brison - always runs when there is a leadership race

Ralph Goodale - from the West but not fluent in French

Ujjal Dosanjh - interested perhaps but only won his riding by 22 votes

Dalton McGuinty - most likely not interested

David McGuinty - probably very interested

Martha Hall Findlay - probably the only credible female candidate that will enter

Ruby Dhalla - young but not fluent in French

Elizabeth May - if she gets turfed as green leader or if she wants to make change in parliament, May should consider getting in this race. Unlikely though.

Joe Volpe - his last leadership campaign was a disaster

Martin Cauchon - Token Quebec representative. Not sure what he brings to the table outside of the Montreal region

Dennis Coderre - See above. The last three Liberal leaders have represented Quebec ridings. I think Liberals should consider looking to another province this time.

Stephane Dion - if the government falls before May...he is the guy!

With McKenna and Trudeau not entering the race, it should be more clear than ever that the problems in the Liberal party extend well past leadership and there will not be an easy quick fix. There is no Barack Obama in the field. I expect a smaller race this time with less than 5 candidates. Ignatieff, Rae, LeBlanc, Manley, Findlay and Kennedy are the only ones who could pass themselves off as serious candidates at this point in time. It looks to be like Michael Ignatieff will take it this time, but LeBlanc could be the compromise this time between Rae and Iggy based on the way this thing is shaping up. Manley, Kennedy and Findlay are serious candidates but do not really have a serious chance of winning.
-Darryl

OTTAWA - He is tall, dark-haired and handsome. He won a seat in the House of Commons on his first try. He's got a famous name. He has a picture-perfect young family. On top of all that, Justin Trudeau is the top pick among Canadians of all political stripes and most age groups as the next leader of the federal Liberal party, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll.

Trouble is, the 36-year-old first-born son of the late Pierre Trudeau says he's not interested in the party's top job this early in his nascent political career.

Pollster John Wright says he suspects most Canadians know Trudeau "can't be taken seriously as a serious candidate" to replace outgoing leader Stephane Dion, given his lack of political and life experience in the face of such economically challenging times.

Instead, Wright says he interprets Canadians' choice of Trudeau as meaning either the party is bereft of recognizable leaders, or it has a genuinely clean slate heading into the leadership contest. Wright comes down on the side of the latter.

"There's no heir apparent. There's no air of excitement. There's no air of appointment," Wright, senior vice-president of Ipsos Reid, said in an interview.

The online survey, released Tuesday and conducted exclusively for Canwest News Service and Global National, explored Canadians' support for nine potential Liberal leadership candidates. Among Canadians of all parties, it said, Trudeau finished first with 16 per cent of the vote. He also scored the most support among those aged 18 to 55, and he was the hands-down favourite among women voters.

Michael Ignatieff, the party's current deputy leader, and Frank McKenna, the former New Brunswick premier who announced Tuesday he would not be a candidate, were tied for second with 12 per cent of the vote. The two men also were the most popular choice among Canadians 55 and older, each garnering 16 per cent of the vote. Toronto MP Bob Rae, a former NDP premier of Ontario, finished in third spot at nine per cent.

Other potential contenders were well back. John Manley, a former deputy leader, had five per cent, and Toronto MP Gerard Kennedy, a former leadership candidate, had three per cent. New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc, who has all but officially declared his candidacy, and Toronto-area MPs Martha Hall Findlay and Ruby Dhalla each registered one per cent.

Among the 26 per cent of those surveyed who said they would vote Liberal if an election were held today, Ignatieff and McKenna each pulled 19 per cent of that support and Trudeau pulled 17 per cent, putting the three men into a statistical dead heat, given the survey's margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. Rae was next at 10 per cent.

The other potential contenders finished well back. Kennedy had five per cent support, Manley and Hall Findlay each had three per cent, and LeBlanc and Dhalla came in under one per cent.

Wright said the poll, which also said one in 10 of those surveyed said "none of the above" when asked to make a choice, points to a wide-open race.

"It doesn't rule anybody in. It doesn't rule anybody out. It's an opportunity," he said.

Wright said the findings, taken in conjunction with the results of other surveys, suggest there is a yearning in the Liberal party and the country as a whole for something new, but not necessarily at the expense of experience.

Wright says Trudeau can be "part of the solution" for the party if Liberals use his youth, crowd appeal and fundraising abilities. But they need someone different for leader, he says.

"I think the issue over the next number of years may be how much experience people (potential leaders) have had with the economy and running a government, someone who can go eye-to-eye go toe-to-toe with Stephen Harper and help rebuild the party," he said.

The online survey, involving 1,012 adults, was conducted Wednesday through Saturday. Ipsos Reid said the sample's composition reflects that of the Canadian population according to census data and is considered accurate to within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

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