So why did she do it?
That's the question everyone is asking today in the wake of the decision by Carolyn Parrish not to run in the upcoming federal election.
The temptation must have been overwhelming for Parrish, that most egocentric of all of our egocentric politicians, to gauge her personal popularity with the public in a way few provincial or federal politicians ever can.
While that likely would have been a fascinating academic study in name recognition, such a decision is foolhardy and would ultimately have been a waste of time and effort for everyone except Conservative Party candidate Bob Dechert. He surely would have won the seat easily in such a vote-splitting scenario between Parrish and the official Liberal candidate.
Parrish, who may be foolhardy but is no fool, either reached the logical decision that she couldn't win or, more likely, decided that life in the isolation chamber in Ottawa is even less fulfilling than eternal damnation on the Liberal backbenches.
In her resignation letter there was a statement, in bold faced-type, that, "In all careers there comes a logical time to move on, to make room for others who also have a strong desire to serve. For me, that time will coincide with the next federal election in which I will not be running."
Some people at City Hall are taking this as a subtle suggestion to the reigning Queen of the City that the would-be Queen is getting impatient in the green (with envy) room and would like to plan a retirement party really soon.
Some Parrish paranoids are already convinced that she will run for the newly-created open City council seat in Ward 6 a year from now and serve an apprenticeship for mayor.
That does make sense, although the last time I spoke to her, Parrish seemed to suggest that would be seen as a step down.
Would the many forces who despise Parrish put forward their own candidate and try to eliminate her from mayoralty contention by inflicting an embarrassing loss in Ward 6? They might try but she would be difficult to beat in a community she has long served. She would also have the full assistance of her good friend and her riding association president, current Ward 6 Councillor George Carlson.
So where does Parrish's long-time spitting and sparring partner, Steve Mahoney, fit into all this?
Mahoney told me yesterday that, while everyone is assuming he would be the logical candidate for appointment as the Liberal candidate in Mississauga-Erindale (he and Parrish even had a war over the name of the riding) his first priority is...local politics.
He wants to run for mayor or regional chair, if either of the incumbents, who were both on the first Peel council in 1974, ever decide to give up the gavel.
"It would be hard if I was an MP for a few months or a year and I had to resign and come back to run for mayor," should Hazel McCallion change her mind about running for her 10th term as mayor, Mahoney said.
If rumours about Emil Kolb stepping down as Peel Chair materialize, Mahoney would definitely be interested in that job.
Which sets up some interesting scenarios. Under the new voting regime at Peel, Mississauga will have a dozen votes and Brampton and Caledon combined will also have a dozen.
Suppose there's a Mississauga candidate and a northern candidate.
The pressure would be on big time from McCallion to vote for Mahoney if he were Mississauga's nominee.
If Parrish happened to be the newly-minted Ward 6 councillor, what would she do?
Would Mahoney's wife Katie, the current Ward 8 councillor, have to declare a conflict of interest in such a vote?
Food for thought.
One thing about Carolyn Parrish is certain: unless she has serious health issues that would keep her from serving, she will be back, in one race or another. It's hard to imagine anyone who has politics more deeply ingrained in their soul.