A call to action

I'm not entirely sure why some Blogging Dippers seem pleased with Kady O'Malley's hack job on both bloggers and the party alike. (At what point did "cranky" or "turning on their own" become compliments?) But it seems clear from my perspective that O'Malley has gone too far in pretending that a push to modernize communications can be linked to an "existential crisis" for the NDP as a whole.

With that link now a significant part of the discussion, there's a need for more than just the consultation process for an improved Internet strategy which a few bloggers have started up - though that too is an important effort.

Instead, we also need to put forward our own views of what the NDP's positive message is and should be - not only what medium to use to get that message out. Which should not only answer O'Malley and others who seem to think that Lib/Green cooperation spells the end of the NDP, but also demonstrate the type of creativity in the blogosphere which can help shape the NDP's future.

So, my call to all Blogging Dippers (and any other bloggers who agree that the NDP plays a vital role in federal politics):

Put up a post today on the topic of "why Canada needs the NDP", and leave a link to that post in the comments.

I'll update this post with links to each one that goes up. And if we can put together a list which the NDP can itself use at the core of a new communications strategy, that should show beyond doubt that while we have to work toward consensus on how best to communicate our shared values, those values are still an essential force in Canadian politics.

Update: Robert theorizes that the coverage isn't really a negative since it'll bring traffic to the Blogging Dippers. The problem, though, is that aside from a single link to the Blogging Dippers site, O'Malley scrupulously linked only to posts critical of the NDP (and the NDP alone). And it's far from clear that many people will bother clicking through the individual post to the main page of any given blog.

The posts so far:
Accidental Deliberations
April Reign
Idealistic Pragmatist*
My journey with AIDS
Northern BC Dipper*
Politics'n'Poetry

*These posts were written before the actual call, but as pointed out by Deanna they nicely fit into the subject.