Check out this essay in the Globe and Mail referring to the false logic of uniting the left. There are some very interesting points but I will highlight something I have been pointing out.
...Strikingly, in his first outing as the leader of a united Conservative party, in 2004, Mr. Harper failed to win to as many votes as the old Progressive Conservative and Canadian Alliance parties combined. Many former PCs found themselves more at home with the Martin-led Liberal Party than with the Harper-led Conservatives. But this has not been sustained. And the traffic has been in the other direction ever since.
...a significant number of people said they had voted Liberal in 2006 but were switching to another party this time. Where did they go? Nearly 44 per cent of them said they were moving to the Conservatives. Thus, the Liberals' largest loss in the last election was to the Conservatives -- not to the NDP or the Greens.
If Paul Adams' logic is followed it would lead to Michael Ignatieff as the best choice for Liberal leader. I appreciate this logic but I also realize that the Trudeau/Chretien wing has done better in elections that the Turner/Martin wing. Until the last time around though as Dion was clearly from the left-wing of the Liberal party and he led them to their worst popular vote in histiory. I think the bottom line is that it does not matter who the Liberals choose as they will only get back into power once the Canadian electorate decides that PM Harper has had his full kick at the can and Canadians have had their fill of him. We are nowhere near that point yet.
Comments (2)
It is always difficult to unite a broad coalition of views under a unified agenda. All the same, you have to find common interests and find a way to give a little something to everyone. What I call ‘brokerage politics.’ The problem with the liberals is not so much how to ‘broker’ as they were experts at this, but how to regain credibility without enduring any pain. Not doable in my opinion. Cut the throat of the sacred calf and then the liberals can rebuild. The longer they wait the longer they remain in the wilderness.
Posted by real conservative | November 8, 2008 2:27 PM
Posted on November 8, 2008 14:27
Mr. Adams made a couple of assertions. One is that for every vote the Liberals try to get from the NDP, Greens, or Bloc, it will bring them one vote closer to the Conservatives; for every vote the Liberals take from the Conservatives will bring them two votes closer together. It is more worthwhile for the Liberals to go after people who voted Conservative than to consolidate the left. This could move the Liberals to the centre of the ideological spectrum.
The second point has to do with Obama’s success south of the border. He ran a post-ideological campaign that didn’t pidgeon hole him to certain viewpoints. In Canada, Stéphane Dion was pidgeon holed with his Green Shift/Carbon Tax plan from which he could not escape. The Liberals need to get the support of Canadians who don’t identitfy with a particular ideology.
Finally, several G&M commenters noted essentially that if all the so-called left wing parties united, many of their voters could switch to the Conservatives or not vote next time. There is nothing to be gained with the left uniting.
The recent Canadian election was the first time that the Liberals could be described as a left-wing party (maybe second or third by diehard conservative ideologues). The Liberals need to move back to the centre where most of the Canadian voters are. They need to re-brand themselves as a centrist party. And no deals with the Greens.
Posted by Skinny Dipper | November 8, 2008 3:33 PM
Posted on November 8, 2008 15:33