tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post3765884112034179224..comments2023-10-22T09:18:16.885-04:00Comments on Far and Wide: Opportunity Missed?Steve Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04871113039374739208noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-24978345421470132212009-08-18T06:16:17.734-04:002009-08-18T06:16:17.734-04:00I supported a name change, though most delegates d...I supported a name change, though most delegates did not it is clear. That said, it was not vital to succeed. Layton and the NDP have done better each time out. <br /><br />The next election will likely see a minority again. This will be a test of Iggy and the Libs who decided a coalition wasn't going to work. <br /><br />Lets see what they think after the next election.Ricky Barneshttp://queerthoughts.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-20079850089584690572009-08-17T19:11:25.282-04:002009-08-17T19:11:25.282-04:00The Green party attracts disaffected Liberals too....The Green party attracts disaffected Liberals too.<br /><br />I know, I am one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-22504350732767424532009-08-17T16:25:31.103-04:002009-08-17T16:25:31.103-04:00"Doesn't that comment detract from your e..."Doesn't that comment detract from your earlier different electorate theory?"<br /><br />Central Ontario tends to be small-c conservative with a anti-Catholic tradition. Note that John Tory's funding of religious schools was attacked bitterly there. The provincial Greens ran a platform in 2007 calling for an end to funding Catholic schools. This was popular, even in the urban ridings of Toronto where more secularists live.<br /><br />At the same time, the NDP is becoming more industrial town, working class Catholic. Witness its greater appeal in places such as Welland and Northern Ontario. Different message, different audience.<br /><br />With regards to a protest vote, the Greens have the advantage. Its message is more fuzzy and much less ideological, while the NDP takes on a more populist overtone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-57296487924678608512009-08-17T14:54:46.253-04:002009-08-17T14:54:46.253-04:00"The irony is that it has a strong Ontarian a..."The irony is that it has a strong Ontarian appeal, which is shown by its better performance in the Central Ontario at the expense of Layton's Dippers."<br /><br />Doesn't that comment detract from your earlier different electorate theory?<br /><br />There's no question, that some of the environmental support has bleed from the NDP to the Greens. I also think that the "protest" vote, and this is where my anecedotal reference kicks in, is inclined to go Green now, as opposed to the NDP. A rebrand might bring people into the fold, a couple % makes a huge difference.Steve Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04871113039374739208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-8739433921972590032009-08-17T14:42:53.041-04:002009-08-17T14:42:53.041-04:00"I know many people who consider or have vote..."I know many people who consider or have voted Green because it is seen as alternative to the status quo, of which the NDP is a part. Not so much taking votes away from the Liberals, the Green Party presence stifles the NDP's growth potential."<br /><br />I am not sure if they are going after the same electorate.<br /><br />I don't think Lizzie May calls herself a social democrat. She has used the Green Party as a means to shape her own political views and sell it to the voting public. That is her success.<br /><br />Lizzie May's view of Canada is of an Atlantic Canadian progressivism, one that fills a gap undertaken when the Harper Cons swallowed up the Joe Clark-Bob Stanfield Progressives. The irony is that it has a strong Ontarian appeal, which is shown by its better performance in the Central Ontario at the expense of Layton's Dippers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-52664728130095761302009-08-17T13:17:09.505-04:002009-08-17T13:17:09.505-04:00I think that's because it was still a western ...I think that's because it was still a western based party, whereas the NDP has tenticles throughout Canada.Steve Vhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04871113039374739208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20358187.post-21957823113842584592009-08-17T13:08:23.291-04:002009-08-17T13:08:23.291-04:00The Reform Party changed its name because they kne...The Reform Party changed its name because they knew the Brand had become a liability. It did them no good. The Canadian Alliance did not do any better than Reform.<br /><br />I suspect the same would have happened to a renamed NDP. <br /><br />Both demonstrate just how bankrupt politics is in this country. Instead of actually remaking themselves to be more appealing to Canadians these two parties chose to repackage, or at least to propose repackaging, the same old policies and attitudes and then try to show that doing so somehow made them different from before.<br /><br />No wonder Canadians are turning off politics in droves.<br /><br />On another note, it would appear that many NDP bloggers have realized the blunder of their party in the handling of the proposed name change. They are out in force on all of the Liberal blogs that talk about it trying to spin this into something besides the failure that it was.ottlibhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12695135535019042279noreply@blogger.com