Posc Student

I'm just brining up the fact that having a caucus that the majority are brand new, and possibly people who never ran to win, is much harder then have a caucus that was slowly built into one that is larger. I know it has happened before but it doesn't mean it was easy for those parties.

The NDP will have a lot of pressure on their hands possibly being the official opposition or in government and their future will likely depend on how their new MPs do. It's not very often you get a party that the majority of the caucus are brand new.

The NDP have only done well when they've had a popular leader. Layton won't be around a whole lot longer so a new NDP leader may cause the parties numbers to drop. Does anyone know of provincial politicians who could make the jump to federal as leader? Eric Hoskins could have been a good candidate for the leadership had he won his seat in 2008.

My post was sarcastic, but sarcasam doesn't come across well online. Now that the party is expected to do so poorly it may actually help them and their next leader. The party likely won't expect their next leader to win the next election so not winning won't look like a total fail, like historically it was. The Liberals may realize now that they need a leader who can stay on for several elections. Jack Layton was not popular when he became leader of the NDP but once people got to know him he became likeable, the same thing happened with Stephen Harper to an extent. Harper was never considered someone who could be Prime Minister when he bacame leader of the CPC but after 7 years he's now usually people first pick to be PM out of the current leaders.

I think they'll get in the 40's outside Quebec and then who knows in Quebec, som2 pundits say under 30 or even under 20 others say 40+.

He's hardly a career politician, but if he takes control of the Liberal Party it will be doomed after his initial charm wears off.

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You don't think the party would want him to stay on?

No need for a new leader, Iggy plans to stay on as leader after the election.

Why, like Harper, does Layton pick and choose which days he will and will not answer questions?

I like a leader with personality but I'd much rather someone who is able to run the country competently.

Is that really a good enough reason to make someone Prime Minister?

I don't believe in 2008 they had an easy time getting big crowds, I can't really remember but I thought I've heard that mentioned. It's too bad because Dion had more of a vision for what he wanted Canada to be then Ignatieff.

Layton has run a good campaign, I think he had some luck because of Ignatieff and Harper though. It's amazing that in the begining Layton's campaign was horrible. Him and his rallies had little media attention and when the rallies were mentioned by the media it seemed like they often pointed out that they were only attracting small crowds. Quebec has saved him though. Ignatieff has also run a good campaign even if it never connected with voters. His campaign has actually been more consistent than Layton's when you consider the media attention he has gotten (which has been very positive for someone who wasn't exactly known for positive media attention) and the good number of people showing up to rallies. Harper's campaign hasn't been great but it obviously has worked out okay for him. Being more positive may have guaranteed him his majority, though it's not out of the picture yet. While it has had its controversies I think he purposedly made sure the campaign didn't get too much attention. Did Duceppe and May stop campaigning?

The NDP received their highest amount of support in Newfoundland and Labrador last election and still never managed to get many qualified candidates this time. They have a university student running who didn't campaigned, unless she has in the last couple of days, even though the party placed second in the riding in 2008 with nearly 25% of the vote with only $5,000 spent. In another riding they have a candidate who did campaign but is now vacationing out of the country, another candidate decided to campaign last week after the NDP went up in the polls. They do have three candidates though who are putting in an effort, though one of them has no chance.

It doesn't seem like NDP want people to ask questions.

Lets get back to the main question and see if we can get the party's constitution.

They made a phone call to someone within the NDP and were told 20%, how is that not doing their homework? It would seem to be a much more reliable source then you.

How is someone who isn't a member suppose to know what kind of a role the socialist caucus plays when they see they have a website and are then told they make up 20%?

Why do you need to be so ignorant to people when they ask a question or say something you don't agree with? A good point has been raised and instead of reasonably responding to it you bash them and say they are uneducated. Go ahead bash me now!

Is Charest a federal Liberal? I can't stand the man and I don't think he would do well. His approval ratings in Quebec are super low so the party would likely have little chance of recovering there, Albertans and westerners wouldn't trust him because of his criticism of the oil sands, He would not win a seat in Newfoundland and Labrador and would likely do poorly in the Maritime as well. Premiers who have moved federal have never done well.

Libby would be great in Foreign Affairs! Ruth Ellen Brosseau would be great as Immigration Minister and as Quebec Lieutenant!

I like him but I don't see it happening. A provincial politician from Quebec or possibly Ontario could be interesting.

Layton doesn't seem like he's on his way to winning the most seats, however Harper isn't known for keeping his word. The Governor General will decide Harper's job.

I saw another interview with Justin Trudeau yesterday and making him leader would be a big mistake. I don't think he would bring the party to the centre but putting that aside he is ignorant. I don't know if I've seen an interview yet where he has not spoken over either the interviewer or someone he's debating with, he is always interupting and doesn't want others to make their points.