Evening Star

Right now, I think it's Mulcair, Cullen, Dewar, Topp.

I think I've been clear how I'm voting.

Yeah, that was what Topp always said about Mulcair. Mulcair never said it himself.

When has he said that? All he's ever said is they need to move the centre to the NDP, which has the opposite meaning. Edit: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/breakingnews/NDP-would-recreate-CWB-Mulcair-135178133.html

How has he "thrown his support behind the oil sands"? Because he said he wouldn't shut them down altogether? He's probably the most environmentalist candidate by far. He's a huge supporter of cap and trade and has advocated ending subsidies to the oil and gas industry. http://www.thomasmulcair.ca/site/2011/11/08/georgia-straight-2/?lang=en You're right, though, that he has said that advocating higher income taxes will not attract voters. I'm a bit curious why this seems to be taken for granted in Canada when US Democrats, even ones as far right as Bill Clinton, have no problem advocating for higher income taxes on high earners. This is an area where I actually agree with Topp's views over Mulcair's. I'm not 100% sold on cap and trade but I do think adding another income tax bracket is reasonable. (I would actually prefer this to raising corporate taxes.) I'm also OK with Mulcair's position on the unions, btw. I guess, though, that despite these things, I just don't see enough of an ideological gap between the candidates for it to seem like a major issue to me, certainly not on the Tony Blair vs Old Labour scale. The party was not a radical left party by any stretch under Layton. I see Mulcair's and Layton's agendas as fairly similar. (By the way, Topp worked for what may be the most right-wing NDP government ever, who e.g. actually threw out rent controls in Saskatchewan.)

Fair point. Anything's possible, especially considering no one expected the NDP to become Official Opposition.

The Liberals haven't been a dominant force in the Prairies since the Diefenbaker era. They've barely amounted to anything in the Prairies from 1972 onwards. In the last election, the NDP came second (if a distant second) in most Prairie ridings. How do you see the Liberals becoming a potential threat in the West?

I don't buy it either, especially when people start saying that Nathan Cullen, whom no one had even heard of before this race, would be the real threat to the Tories. Somehow, I don't think listening to card-carrying Conservatives would be our best move here.

WTF are you on about? When democratically elected representatives call for a confidence vote in a minority Parliament, that is not "overthrowing a democratically elected government": it is how a democratically elected government functions in the Parliamentary system.

Are you asking if anyone really objects to the use of the death penalty in the cases of people like Bernardo and Olsen? If, so, yes, I object to it in any case. Edit: I'm not necessarily in favour of stricter sentences either but "people are getting out of jail earlier than I'd like, therefore we need to bring back the death penalty" just seemed like a leap of logic to me, even if one accepts the first part.

But why not just advocate longer sentences in that case? Doesn't seem like a reason to support the death penalty.

It seems incredible to me that a small-c conservative would be willing to give the state the ultimate power of killing its own citizens.

Ah, but it reflects humanist values, you see. (Wikipedia gives a slightly different account: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fahrenheit#History)

Yeah, I may well not be a 'typical' voter in this race.

I disagree that he's "by far the best in debates" but he's good. Otherwise, those are all fair points, actually. I don't think I'd mind him, as long as he doesn't try to push his joint nomination BS too hard. I guess I'm just not sure what substance he brings to the table. Policy is determined by the party but the leader does put his or her slant on things, has his or her own focus and areas of specialization. I know what those are with Mulcair and I feel that I do with Dewar and Topp. I'm not sure what those are with Cullen.

This is the key sentence from the article I cited: "He apparently turned them down when he discovered they had no interest in his ideas but rather wanted him to simply back their own." Edit: I suppose for a hardcore partisan, the fact that he even thought about it would stain him. For me, it shows that he's open-minded, cares about the environment, and was trying to implement some progressive change.

As a personality and speaker? I agree there. And I can't stand Nash personally. I'm just saying that Cullen never occurs to me as a serious contender in the same way that they do because of their experience.

I just don't think his other attributes are as impressive as you seem to.

Did he try or was he approached? My understanding is the latter, that he was courted by all parties and chose the NDP. http://blogs.canada.com/2011/07/28/mulcairtory-ties-resurrected-ndp-chaos/

At the time, most people I knew dreaded Ignatieff, actually. I almost bought a Liberal membership just so I could support Rae over him.

We know the CPC will attack whoever the NDP picks and I - and many others - also think Mulcair would be best able to respond. We've seen him in Parliament and we've seen him in provincial government. We don't necessarily base all our decisions on what the CPC thinks. Cullen's joint nomination idea - which is the most distinctive thing about him - is ridiculous, for the reason that Singh gave. He's a decent speaker and has a good sense of humour but, as I said about Singh, I certainly don't think he has the experience or accomplishments of Mulcair, Topp, or Nash.

He was Layton's deputy co-leader. Does anyone really doubt his belief in and support of Layton?

Wow, Mulcair is compelling in French.

I mean, it was both.

I am and his answers made sense to me. And I don't think he was putting down Layton's leadership, considering that he kept pointing to the NDP's success in QC, perhaps Layton's greatest legacy, as a model to follow.