Editing Frank McKenna (section)

==Prospective career in federal politics==
Since leaving politics in 1997, McKenna served for a brief time on the [[Security Intelligence Review Committee]]. He has been touted several times as a potential [[Atlantic Canada|Atlantic Canadian]] minister in the cabinets of [[Jean Chrétien]] and [[Paul Martin]]. He expressed some interest in running in the [[2004 Canadian federal election|2004 federal election]] but announced he would not do so because of the lack of an available [[electoral district (Canada)|riding]] in the [[Moncton|Moncton, New Brunswick]], area. He did not want to push aside any incumbent Liberal member of Parliament.

After resigning the premiership of New Brunswick, McKenna was identified as a potential future leader of the [[Liberal Party of Canada]], and [[Prime Minister of Canada]]. A poll released on August 23, 2005, commissioned by the ''[[Toronto Star]]'', showed that McKenna was the top choice of the public to succeed Prime Minister Paul Martin. Among the general public, McKenna beat former [[Ontario New Democratic Party|New Democratic Party]] [[Premier of Ontario|Ontario Premier]] [[Bob Rae]] by a margin of 23 to 11 while among self-identified Liberals, McKenna beat former [[Deputy Prime Minister of Canada]] [[John Manley]] by a margin of 28 to 13.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sesresearch.com/library/polls/POLNAT-SU05-T145.pdf|date=2005-08-23|title=McKenna Tops List to Succeed Martin|publisher=SES Canada Research}}</ref> The October 2005 issue of ''[[Saturday Night (magazine)|Saturday Night]]'' magazine had pollster [[Darrell Bricker]] and Liberal strategist [[Warren Kinsella]] create [[odds]] for potential Liberal leadership candidates. They made McKenna the favourite with 7 to 2 odds beating [[Scott Brison]] (8 to 1), [[Martin Cauchon]] (10 to 1), [[Michael Ignatieff]] and [[John Manley]] (each 15 to 1) among others.

On January 30, 2006, McKenna confirmed earlier reports that he was not running for the [[2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership election|Liberal leadership]] to replace Paul Martin, who announced his resignation as party leader on the January 23, 2006 election night. McKenna acknowledged the strength of the Liberal brand stating: "You've got pretty good odds of being the prime minister if you're the leader of the Liberal party" &ndash; every leader of the Liberal party since Sir [[Wilfrid Laurier]] in 1896 had become prime minister.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/washington/ambassador/060130transcript-en.asp|date=2006-01-30|title=Canada's Ambassador to the U.S., Frank McKenna, Gives a News Conference via Telephone Conference from the Canadian Embassy (transcript)|publisher=Government of Canada, Washington Embassy|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080420111837/http://geo.international.gc.ca/can-am/Washington/ambassador/060130transcript-en.asp|archive-date=2008-04-20}}</ref>  However, he put an end to his involvement in the 2006 Liberal Party leadership race, explaining his decision by saying that he did not want "his life to become consumed by politics."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mckenna-won-t-run-for-liberal-leadership-1.579556 |title=McKenna won't run for Liberal leadership |date=January 30, 2006 |publisher=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]|access-date=2014-04-21}}</ref> and that: "I reminded myself of my vow upon leaving office that, having escaped the trap, I wouldn’t go back for the cheese."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1138619289955|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929151135/http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar%2FLayout%2FArticle_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1138619289955|work=[[Toronto Star]]|archive-date=2007-09-29|title=unknown|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Following [[Stéphane Dion]]'s resignation as federal Liberal leader after the [[2008 Canadian federal election|2008 election]], McKenna was once again touted as a possibility to take the helm of the federal Liberal Party. However, on October 28, 2008, McKenna said that he would not be seeking the leadership, saying "Although I have been deeply moved by expressions of support for me from across the country, I have not been persuaded to change my long-standing resolve to exit public life for good," and
"My only regret is that I cannot honour the expectations of friends and supporters who have shown enormous loyalty to me."<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/mckenna-rules-out-liberal-leadership-bid-1.727831 | work=CBC News | title=McKenna rules out Liberal leadership bid | date=October 28, 2008 | access-date=2014-04-21}}</ref>