NDP the only party capable of forming a majority

[WWWTT]

So how many times have the Conservative bein up at bat to hit the home run?

Or the Liberals for that matter?

Common denominator in their attempts are the failure to push over the Bloq since the right united!

The writing is on the wall and it is only a matter of a couple of years for the skeptics to be silenced.

WWWTT

[M.Dancer]

Did anyone watch TV last night?

[Tilter]

NDP the only party capable of forming a majority

:lol:

smoked too much pot, drunk, insane or is this your usual pipe dream.

[Shady]

Did anyone watch TV last night?

I did. I watched Storage Wars on A&E for the first time. It's kind of a cool show.

[scouterjim]

I did. I watched Storage Wars on A&E for the first time. It's kind of a cool show.

I watch that every week. Great program.

[Posc Student]

What a svary thought.

[WWWTT]

This prospect is looking more and more like a possibility

Heres a list of the NDP tsunamia victims in chronological order

1)Elizabeth May and the greens:Where is she?Hardly any coverage of her campaign.She has finally realized that no one will take her serious and that she better win a seat.So she has bein reduced to running a local campaign somewhere in B.C. where she actually has a chance of getting one seat.The flip side is that they have become the first victim of the NDP tsunamia

2)Gille Dueceppe and the block:The Bloq has had a good run at parliament with a strong left wing base.However the same old theme song has become real old.Nothing real tangible to show for the 17 years they've bein on the hill,nothing new coming up.And no longer the first choice of the growing anti-Harper movement

3)Mike Ignatieff and the Liberals:It was either this guy or Bob Rae to lead the party.Don't get me wrong I think Bob Rae is a brilliant pollitician but when you have only these choices the writings on the wall.Just like the Bloq the Liberals are getting tired and after 5 years as official opposition,they are becoming more innefective and dis-associated from the common folks.They represent a time that was and will never return.

Harper is now desperately trying to avoid being victim number 4.Giving the NDP the attention deserving of an opponent cabable of winning a minority government.Much like struggling when you are caught in quicksand.The more you struggle the faster you sink.

WWWTT

[kimmy]

Capable of forming a majority?

Like, on May 2?

Sure, I suppose he's capable, if 15% of Canadians change their voting preference in the next week and a half...

-k

[WWWTT]

Capable of forming a majority?

Like, on May 2?

Sure, I suppose he's capable, if 15% of Canadians change their voting preference in the next week and a half...

-k

By the next election,not this one.

WWWTT

[Mr.Canada]

Anything can happen I suppose. Layton and the NDP would need to completely destroy the LPC and make the NDP the only centre left option. The NDP would also need to move to the centre on many issues so t hey could scoop up the remaining centre vote left over from the Tories.

It might be easier for the NDP and Liberals to just merge their parties. If they did that they would most likely win a majority.

[RNG]

Anything can happen I suppose. Layton and the NDP would need to completely destroy the LPC and make the NDP the only centre left option. The NDP would also need to move to the centre on many issues so t hey could scoop up the remaining centre vote left over from the Tories.

It might be easier for the NDP and Liberals to just merge their parties. If they did that they would most likely win a majority.

If Layton's health hangs in enough for him to be around for the next election. If not, I bet they elect another left wing-nut leader and lose all they have gained.

Edited April 22, 2011 by RNG

[Benz]

So how many times have the Conservative bein up at bat to hit the home run?

Or the Liberals for that matter?

Common denominator in their attempts are the failure to push over the Bloq since the right united!

The writing is on the wall and it is only a matter of a couple of years for the skeptics to be silenced.

WWWTT

In the past years in Québec, we often talked about the scenario where NDP and the Bloc could merge and be a strong credible choice for the left. Unfortunatly, NDP has been too stubborn trying to fight the Bloc instead. NDP doesn't want to solve the constitution dead end that Québec feels strongly concern about. If the NDP would have been serious, the Bloc would either have to merge with them or desapear from the scene.

If the recent polls in BC and Qc starts a wave in the other provinces, NDP might not win this time but will become a serious option for the next election... and the libs will go down, down, down...

[ToadBrother]

If the recent polls in BC and Qc starts a wave in the other provinces, NDP might not win this time but will become a serious option for the next election... and the libs will go down, down, down...

Fine by me. I'd rather have two major parties that stood for something.

[Mr.Canada]

If Layton's health hangs in enough for him to be around for the next election. If not, I bet they elect another left wing-nut leader and lose all they have gained.

Thomas Mulclair will be their next leader. He is definitely not a "wing nut" and a little more measured then Layton is. I think Mulclair would pull the party ever so slightly to the centre. Giving the NDP a real chance at attaining power. Jack is great but he's way too far to the left for many Canadians.

Fine by me. I'd rather have two major parties that stood for something.

Agreed. It's much easier to deal with two parties. One left, one right rather then have some squishy middle ground party that basically stands for nothing.

[RNG]

Thomas Mulclair will be their next leader. He is definitely not a "wing nut" and a little more measured then Layton is. I think Mulclair would pull the party ever so slightly to the centre. Giving the NDP a real chance at attaining power. Jack is great but he's way too far to the left for many Canadians.

I would have thought so till I saw what the BC NDP just did. There was a clear choice between a center-left guy and a left guy, and the left guy won big-time. Tell you the truth, it surprised me. And our local joke Conservatives are a ways away from splitting votes with our so-called Liberals. Hell, the BC Liberals are way to the right of the Albera Conservatives.

[Evening Star]

Fine by me. I'd rather have two major parties that stood for something.

I really like the idea of having a mushy middle party!

[TimG]

I really like the idea of having a mushy middle party!

So do I. As long as the Libs are around I have an alternative I can vote for when I get sick of the CPC. But if the only alternative is the NDP then then I am stuck with the CPC.

[Guest Derek L]

Fine by me. I'd rather have two major parties that stood for something.

I agree, nothing would make me happier then to see the LPC divided up between the NDP and Tories, but (always is one) I feel the NDP is still too far left leaning. To be viable, they need to move a little closer to center along the lines of British/Australian Labour.

How they would acheive this, I'm not really sure. Perhaps by gaining some "experinced" Liberal members whom been in government. The option that would "scare" me the most is if they took a page out of Obama's book, and learned on the job. That option I feel could be very expensive to Canadians, but in the end, they'd be forced to move closer to the center once the "real world" had sunk in.....much like Obama.

I've always wondered, what is the purpose of the Greens? Are they not fairly similar in thinking to that of the NDP? Could the NDP become the big "collectivist tent" and welcome orange Liberals, Greens and "leftist-not really serious about leaving Canada" Bloc voters?

Would that cement the bases, similar to American politics, where ~45% are staunch Democrats & ~45% staunch Republicians and the remaining ~ 10% being the "swing voters"? And perhaps this would play better with those that feel Canadians suffer from a democratic deficit....

[RNG]

I agree, nothing would make me happier then to see the LPC divided up between the NDP and Tories, but (always is one) I feel the NDP is still too far left leaning. To be viable, they need to move a little closer to center along the lines of British/Australian Labour.

How they would acheive this, I'm not really sure. Perhaps by gaining some "experinced" Liberal members whom been in government. The option that would "scare" me the most is if they took a page out of Obama's book, and learned on the job. That option I feel could be very expensive to Canadians, but in the end, they'd be forced to move closer to the center once the "real world" had sunk in.....much like Obama.

I've always wondered, what is the purpose of the Greens? Are they not fairly similar in thinking to that of the NDP? Could the NDP become the big "collectivist tent" and welcome orange Liberals, Greens and "leftist-not really serious about leaving Canada" Bloc voters?

Would that cement the bases, similar to American politics, where ~45% are staunch Democrats & ~45% staunch Republicians and the remaining ~ 10% being the "swing voters"? And perhaps this would play better with those that feel Canadians suffer from a democratic deficit....

Nah, I think we should have 15 political parties, proportional representation and an election every 6 months like most European countries, or even better, 15 or so months without a government like Belgium is facing. When there is no government, they can't screw anything up.

[Guest Derek L]

Nah, I think we should have 15 political parties, proportional representation and an election every 6 months like most European countries, or even better, 15 or so months without a government like Belgium is facing. When there is no government, they can't screw anything up.

I wonder, if the NDP and Liberals were to merge and have enough seats to form a Majority or strong Minority, (be it something along the lines of CA/PC type or some other form), the Bloc to be cut in half and the Greens still without a seat, would there still be calls for proportional representation from the NDP?

I'd think a merger of progressive parties would be more stable and more likely to form a (majority) government....

[RNG]

I wonder, if the NDP and Liberals were to merge and have enough seats to form a Majority or strong Minority, (be it something along the lines of CA/PC type or some other form), the Bloc to be cut in half and the Greens still without a seat, would there still be calls for proportional representation from the NDP?

I'd think a merger of progressive parties would be more stable and more likely to form a (majority) government....

I was shocked today. I called up Dictionary.com and typed in liberal. The definitions they came up with sort of were way more the conservative philosophy than the Liberals. I'm afraid to look up "progressive".

[Evening Star]

Well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism#Classical_and_modern

It all depends on how you define "liberty" though, right? Defining liberty in terms of the free market is in keeping with 18th-century liberalism. We usually use "liberal" in this sense today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_liberalism

[RNG]

Well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberalism#Classical_and_modern

It all depends on how you define "liberty" though, right? Defining liberty in terms of the free market is in keeping with 18th-century liberalism. We usually use "liberal" in this sense today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_liberalism

As I just posted in another thread, I just put "liberal" into dictionary.com and the answers mostly were along the line of conventional conservative philosophy. I was shocked, so you are probably right.

[Evening Star]

This is better actually: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/liberalism/#DebBetOldNew

Edited April 23, 2011 by Evening Star

[cybercoma]

It would be absolutely insane if Layton won a majority next election. It's completely inconceivable right now. In fact, unlike the rest of the NDP supporters here, I don't think the additional support is going to amount to much on election night. Some more seats, sure. I don't think he's storming through the Maritimes, as some suggested, and I don't think he's going to take all that many in Quebec. We'll see how many people vote this time around and what happens May 2. If nothing else, this sure has been an exciting campaign.