Strategic planning

With most of the talk about post-election strategy centering on the Libs, let's take a few minutes to discuss what the New Democrats did well this year - and how they'll want to build on that going forward.

Despite the NDP's gains in seats and vote share, the party's most important victory may not have come at the polls. Instead, the most significant positive development likely lay in the media' general acknowledgment that it was the NDP which boasted the best-run campaign when considering advertising, event management, and the rest of the national air war. Having shown themselves capable of running the best national campaign organization, the New Democrats should hopefully find the media at least somewhat less likely to marginalize the party, encouraging both additional reporting on the party's activities and increased discussion of what the NDP is up to.

Which makes for an important opportunity - but also more pressure to make sure the party's message is as timely and well thought-out from here on in as it was during the campaign. Fortunately, though, the strategy to do that looks to be a gimme.

Particularly with the Libs apparently moving to the right, the NDP figures to be the lone national voice pushing progressive message in opposition to Harper. Which should result in both prominent placement of NDP responses to any controversial policies which figure to stay in the news, and a massive opening to take the lead in pushing for left-wing causes.

Of course, the 2008 campaign also signals that no matter how effective New Democrats are in front of the cameras, they also have plenty of work to do in order to continue building the party behind the scenes. And it's there more than in public messaging that the NDP should follow the lead of the Obama campaign. Rather than counting on top-down party messaging to bring voters into the NDP camp, the key now has to be to build a broad, well-trained, self-sustaining organizational base.

As in Obama's case, this would involve some risk in temporarily directing attention away from the immediate priorities of fund-raising and direct voter contact - which may seem especially problematic within a minority Parliament. But this year's campaign serves to highlight to at least some extent the limitations of the NDP's current structure. And again with the Libs veering to the right, there may never be a better opportunity for the NDP to position itself as the hub of organization and support for progressive voters which it needs in order to form government.