On mutual interests

As a general rule it's fairly safe to say Gerry Nicholls' advice to left-wing parties is based on something other than a desire to see them succeed - and his latest is no exception. But it's worth pointing out one entirely valid observation behind his attempt to wrongfoot the NDP.

Indeed, I've pointed out before that any candidate interested in winning the leadership of a party that's set to form government will need to work on keeping the positive attributes that led the NDP to this year's historic gains. And it's entirely true to note - as Nicholls does - that the Cons will be waiting to pounce on any development that can serve to undermine the NDP's position.

But where Nicholls seeks to lead the NDP's contenders astray is in his suggestion as to what that means for the leadership campaign. Contrary to Nicholls' advice, the spectre of a Con operative with a camera is all the more reason to talk about genuine policy ideas rather than mere personality politics.

After all, surely neither Nicholls nor any other observer who's paid the slightest bit of attention to Stephen Harper's political strategy would pretend that the Cons will do anything but distort and distract when it comes to their depiction of the NDP's actual policies. And so any effort to talk like a right-winger in order to appease the genuine article is doomed to failure - while a strong progressive discussion in the course of the leadership campaign will open more political space for whoever wins the leadership in the years to come.

Meanwhile, one of the most obvious areas where the NDP needs to grow is in developing a movement of volunteers and donors to match the one which has given the Cons a huge resource advantage over its competitors - including having enough spare cash sitting around to allow for multi-million-dollar attack ad buys against any opposing leader. And a campaign that runs away from the NDP's base will be sure to make matters all the worse on that front.

As a result, there's no reason for leadership candidates to soft-pedal policy discussions based on the fear that the Cons will do what they'll do in any event. But there is reason to be cautious when it comes to the factor that's allowed the Cons to avoid answering for their policies at all.

It shouldn't be any great secret that the strategy of trying to attach a negative narrative to the leader of the opposition is now a fixture in Canadian politics - with the Libs' recent history (particularly the use of Michael Ignatieff clips against Stephane Dion) showing exactly what happens when leadership rivals fail to think past the immediate campaign. And there's little any candidate or operative can do to help the Cons more in the long run than to gift-wrap negative statements about the eventual winner for use in future Con ads.

So the real takeaway from Nicholls' warning is this: any negative campaigning in the leadership race only figures to make it much harder for any candidate to achieve the party's ultimate goals once the leadership campaign is over. And that should make for all the more reason for candidates to talk about policy ideas that will get people interested in joining the NDP, rather than fighting a war of attrition that serves only to help its adversaries.