Monday, March 04, 2013

Trudeau's "Red Army"

I'm quite curious to see what all the various candidates tallies are on the Liberal "supporter" front today. But, given Trudeau is an almost certain winner, his staggering tally is particularly noteworthy for future prospects.  One thing is clear, the decision to introduce a supporter category has put wind in Liberal sails, an influx of energy that will be a pivotal development as we approach the next election.

Every "supporter" signed up is important for the Liberals.  That said, fair to say many people have signed up to support a candidate, their ideas, their direction, rather than a more general endorsement of the Liberal Party of Canada.  Particularly with a Murray campaign for instance, should she fail to win the leadership, I suspect the involvement of many ends with the process itself. 

With this sort of reality in mind, the supporters of the eventual winner are the key driver, as their preference wins, chances of continued engagement are quite high.   Assuming a Trudeau victory, the Liberals now have 150000 people who "support" him, as well as all the other Liberals outside of the "supporter" process.  In other words, Trudeau has a ready made "red army" at his disposal, which the Liberals can then "mine" in terms of fundraising, volunteering, etc.  If you've supported Trudeau for leader, there is really no reason to believe your participation ends there, the big fight will still remain.

I believe what has transpired with the new designation goes beyond any one's wildest imagination, a testament to the "star power" Trudeau brings to the process.  The reality is the Liberals are now re-energized with fresh voices that will change the rank and file, presenting a formidable backdrop in terms of organization.  More succinctly, guess what Ottawa, the Liberals are a force to be reckoned with!

4 comments:

Jerry Prager said...

The thing I took away from the last debate is that at the end of the day this will still be the Neo-liberal, and those of hoping for a New Liberal party will be once again doomed to disappointment.
I got the impression that no one in the debate with the possible exception of Murray knows Iggy lost the last election because it was about democracy and he failed to deliver an iota of change.
This is smelling like the same old dog; which is why liberalism died around the world and only neo-liberal remains.
I was depressed all day.
It's like my objection to Nation News Watch. The NDP knew 100,000 people were on the streets of Madison Wisconsin a few weeks before out election, because they don't really on corporatist media.
There were 500,000 people on the streets of Madrid last week. My guess is very few liberals knew or cared.
Neo-liberalism is a disease, and it killed the Liberal Party of Canada. I have seen no evidence that Trudeau will democratize the party itself
The party thinks progressive supporters will support them because they bad talk Harper. No such luck.

bluegreenblogger said...

I am really crossing my fingers that the Liberal Party recognises that they have a tiger by the tail with free supporter signups, and work out a way to keep the ball rolling now the Leadership supporter drive is over. There is no valid reason NOT to keep supporters signing up moving forward, just have to tweak the 'reward' for supporters, and Liberalist could have huge numbers moving into the next election.

Steve V said...

Leaks that 300000 supporters overall, which is well beyond anyone's imagination.

I'd also be curious to know how many new Libs have signed up.

Jerry Prager said...

Curiously, Marc Garneau tweeted a response that he agreed with my position that neo-liberalism killed the Liberal Party and that New Liberalism is required.
First sign of hope I had that liberals may be ready to finally tackle corporatism.