Perhaps she was just thinking out loud and the whole thing got away from her?

Premier Christy Clark's suggestion to, as she said last week, "be considering and actively debating a name change in our party" has got to be the answer to every political cartoonist's dream.

Clark said the Liberals need a name "that's as inclusive as possible. We are a free-enterprise party that consists of people with independent minds from all across the political spectrum. The thing we share in common is a desire to build the economy and ensure a thriving private sector."

Pundits are saying the name change is a not-so-subtle way of telling the Conservatives that the Liberals are looking to form a coalition right-wing party under a new banner.

But some are suggesting that a name change is simply a way to get rid of old baggage and give voters a way to forget or forgive the "old" Liberals.

Whatever the motive, it merely makes Clark and the current Liberals look desperate.

Currently, one of those "independent minds" - John van Dongen - is launching a court action trying to get at sealed information on the B.C. Rail political corruption trial that saw Dave Basi and Bob Virk be allowed to avoid repaying the government for an estimated $6 million in legal fees.

The former Liberal minister, who is now with the Conservatives, is using his own money to try and get at the info. Legal pundits say the odds are low he'll succeed. But sometimes judges choose to lean towards justice and interpret the finer points of law accordingly.

We hope so.

In any case, Clark can't be pleased that the B.C. Rail case continues to have legs. But she has only herself to blame. If she had opened an investigation into the whole sordid mess when she took over, she could have truly signalled to voters that she was a "fresh" start and someone who wouldn't put up with the usual political cover ups.

Alas, now she's resorting to "rebranding" - but that's just style over substance.