Newfoundlander

He still supposedly tried to negotiate a job with the PMO. I believe Topp called him out on this as well.

According to members of the NDP they are a grassroots party and the members make the policy, if the membership don't like Cullen's idea can't they say so at a policy convention and look at his other attributes at the leadership race?

I don't know. The fact that he tried to get a job in Harper's PMO and has a tendency to say idiotic things makes him less of a threat then I think Cullen is. I'm sure Conservatives have Mulcair attack ads ready to go. I do think his vision for the NDP is more of a threat then say Topp's vision but I think he is a problem. Cullen is able to take on attacks with a smile, while Mulcair can just get angry. I also think he's a controversial figure for the more lefty members.

Agreed. Many Conservatives had considered Dewar to be a bit of a threat as well but I think his difficulty with French, and the fact that his colleagues have criticized him for it, have made him less of a CPC threat.

The only reason he was co-deputy leader was because he was from Quebec. It wasn't unknown either that Mulcair wanted the leadership of the party. I don't doubt that he supported Layton but I don't think they were that close, and while he obviously didn't want to see Layton die I think he wanted the leadership before 2015.

Mulcair probably faces more baggage then any of the other candidates, though he could potentially appeal to a broader audience then the majority of these candidates.

If Nathan Cullen hadn't blown it with a large number of members with his cooperation proposal I think he'd be the best candidate for the party.

Was he portraying that as Layton's success or his?

The wider audience, i.e. non-members, aren't voting in the leadership though. To me it sounded like he dissed Jack Layton's time as leader.

Peggy Nash seemed like she had a good chance of taking the leadership for a while but now that she's unable to answer questions regarding corporate tax increases and private health care she might alienate members. Tom Mulcair's attack of how the NDP have operated up until now may not play well with members either.

The most interesting thing about Topp winning the leadership race would be the by-election that would follow.

Topp is quite annoying and a bad speaker, I don't understand what the party establishment see in him. I had liked Paul Dewar but have found him pretty dull and odd in debates, the whole crew of them don't really bring anything interesting to politics.

Many people feel the same way as you and I can hardly blame them. I've heard a number of people say that they can't stand Harper but don't see how there is any better option.

Well in the case of Bernardo he can never get parole and I believe he is in his own area where he has no contact with others besides his own guards. He is still only 47 years old, we are spending so much money just to have him locked up for life.

When it comes to people like Paul Bernado I agree with it.

Brad Wall hasn't done anything particularly right-wing. Spending under his premiership has steadily increased, he intervened when a foreign company tried to buy Potash Corp. and he hash't sold off a bunch of provincial assets or cut government jobs. I think he's definitely someone who is centre-right but he hash't governed that way much. He seems to have been doing a good job though.

There's obviously something up with it. It's not like these are just a bunch of random ridings, there's a lot of similarities between most of them.

Hopefully this leads to some interesting by-elections.

I'm fine with having a progressive tax system but why should people who some classify as "rich" be expected to have their taxes raised when the economy starts having problems?

Well what is classified as "rich" and how do we know they have a greater ability to pay taxes?

Why is it people feel "the rich" should start being taxed more and not others?

I'd rather be taxed on what I buy then what I earn.

If a party can form government with FPTP then why would they change the system? Harper had believed in electoral reform when the right was split, but when he started winning governments under FPTP he abandoned that idea.

The way we vote isn't going to change.

Oh yes, can't wait! Just waiting to hear their Fisheries policies to decide who to vote for.