tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11282727.post2326997207226691631..comments2024-03-09T04:13:53.858-06:00Comments on Accidental Deliberations: On clean slatesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11282727.post-70800543444907744132015-10-24T13:43:15.384-06:002015-10-24T13:43:15.384-06:00The Liberals have a direction. It's called &qu...The Liberals have a direction. It's called "Up" whereas the NDP direction is "Down" it'll go all the way down in 2019 when after we bring in ranked ballot we'll wipe the NDP off the electoral map once and for all. And Thank GOD for that!Hishighnesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01055273254536503609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11282727.post-44447536403487431372015-10-20T19:37:43.883-06:002015-10-20T19:37:43.883-06:00I admit I wasn't fond of Mulcair. He always se...I admit I wasn't fond of Mulcair. He always seemed to be reaching, measuring his next promise by which way he thought the wind was blowing. Everything seemed artificial, calculated on the scales of opportunism. <br /><br />We agree that he's too far right for an NDP leader, a weakness that allowed Trudeau's Liberals to capture the progressive narrative. I'm not sure the NDP's Quebec strength wasn't squandered in the party's drift to the Right.<br /><br />Canada needs a clear and strong voice from the Left. We'll need that more over the next twenty years than we ever have. <br /><br />BTW, I don't "like" most politicians. I wasn't fond of Dion and I thoroughly disliked Ignatieff. In fact I disliked Iggy far more than any dislike I've had for Mulcair. It was enough for me to leave the party I'd supported for 40 years. On that scale, Mulcair doesn't come close.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11282727.post-853773376509936532015-10-20T17:38:06.836-06:002015-10-20T17:38:06.836-06:00There are indeed leadership reviews at NDP convent...There are indeed leadership reviews at NDP conventions - and if there's a time to test the membership's desire to keep Mulcair as leader, that would be it.<br /><br />But I'd be careful with the test we're applying to him: he fully delivered on the "chance" to do exactly what you set out, meaning that the big question is whether the campaign's late turn makes it worth starting from square one. (On that front, the NDP moved on from Ed Broadbent after the last long push toward government in 1988 produced a similar result - but does anybody want to argue the NDP was better off for that change?)Greg Fingashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01506686081291502115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11282727.post-34876440942387496272015-10-20T14:06:20.380-06:002015-10-20T14:06:20.380-06:00Well, you don't like Mulcair. Actually, at le...Well, <b>you</b> don't like Mulcair. Actually, at least as leader of the NDP <b>I</b> don't like Mulcair (as an individual human being I get the impression that, unlike say Harper, he's a fairly good guy). But I haven't seen any polling suggesting that the <b>public</b> don't like Mulcair; his ratings were generally fairly high. So while I don't think you could say Mulcair was pulling the party <b>up</b>, I'd want to see some kind of substance behind a claim that he was a "millstone" bringing the party down.<br /><br />Still, I don't really see him sticking around and I'll be perfectly happy if he doesn't. Mulcair, while not quite the neoliberal or pure Blair that you've consistently painted him as, is too far right for an NDP leader and I hate his position on Israel. His Liberal roots were tolerated because basically, the NDP owed its sudden major-party status to Quebec and Mulcair was Quebec's guy and the new Quebec wing totally deserved a kick at the can. Fair enough IMO. But he didn't deliver Quebec. So then if Quebec doesn't want him after all, what are we doing with this not-very-NDP guy as leader?Purple library guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01930984683714519212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11282727.post-30411479883993981782015-10-20T13:50:04.979-06:002015-10-20T13:50:04.979-06:00I like Mulcair and I'd be fine with him stayin...I like Mulcair and I'd be fine with him staying on as leader for at least until the NDP has a vote on his leadership (they do that at their bi-annual conventions, don't they?) but I don't really see how he can stay around for the next election. He won the leadership because it was thought he'd have a good chance of forming the first NDP Government and also of keeping their gains in Quebec. By both counts, he failed. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11282727.post-45510673067888989452015-10-20T12:44:41.118-06:002015-10-20T12:44:41.118-06:00The Libs would probably be delighted to have Mulca...The Libs would probably be delighted to have Mulcair stay on. In the public eye he's something of a millstone round the NDP neck.<br /><br />Then again, Mulcair scored the second biggest win in the history of the NDP, edging out Broadbent in 1988 by one seat. That's actually pretty good if you ignore that he lost 51-seats in the process.The Mound of Soundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023839743772372922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11282727.post-9009035632517478362015-10-20T10:17:55.863-06:002015-10-20T10:17:55.863-06:00I don't see the issue being one of loyalty, bu...I don't see the issue being one of loyalty, but one of strategy. I can see a viable plan to push for both positive policy changes and better electoral results with Mulcair; I have a tougher time seeing how we get much done if we're pitched into a leadership race, and it's anybody's guess where we'd stand after one. <br /><br />So while I'm all for asserting our importance as members (particularly in making clear policy statements on points where we see the party as having taken the wrong road), I don't see how it would help to turf a respected leader with no idea what comes next. Greg Fingashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01506686081291502115noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11282727.post-8505739702535280072015-10-20T09:57:34.625-06:002015-10-20T09:57:34.625-06:00Sadly, I don't think so. This is a majority go...Sadly, I don't think so. This is a majority government and the NDP will have a credibility problem if they want to try to use their irrelevance as a chance to be "Parliament's conscience" again.<br /><br />The NDP had a decent social democratic platform, but Mulcair lost his advantage (I think) by alienating the grassroots with his purge of defenders of Palestinian rights; attacking Trudeau from the right about deficits (I recognize that deficits are not inherently progressive and that the NDP would have been crucified if they spoke about deficits, but that was no reason to attack Trudeau about them.), nonsensically attacking Trudeau for truthfully saying that lots of wealthy people pretend to be small businesses for tax reason as if he were attacking small businesses himself; and, finally, for defending the idiotic F-35 program.<br /><br />All of that nonsense has to end. And I'd prefer it if Mulcair left with it. He wasn't as bad as those glaring mistakes make him out to be, but to me, we're being loyal to someone who lost for us big time.thwaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15399550285738440669noreply@blogger.com