How to fix the Liberal party - easier than most people think

[Saipan]

Liberal Party isn't really broken, so nothing to fix.

It just shrunk because it had no any directions, and nothing practical to offer.

Dion or Igantieff or Rae or anyone else won't make any difference. "The Natural Party" wanted to be everything to everyone. Promise everything and deliver nothing. Tax and waste. Same as what McGuinty is doing. So even the traditionally liberal Trana is turning blue.

[jbg]

I'm not much of a Liberal supporter, but the "this is Armageddon for the Liberals" thinking based on the last election is just way overblown. Many people are scurrying to figure out how to redefine or reshape the party. What is our party ideology? Should we lean center or more left-of-center. Should we merge with the NDP?

This is all crap. The Libs don't need to redefine their party ideology. They are a political powerhouse, and recently have simply made some very bad policy & party decisions that are, IMO, easily rectifiable. Here's the major reasons why the Liberals suck ass right now:

- Years of corruption and arrogance by the Chretien gov finally caught up with them, culminating in the sponsorship scandal, with Canadians angry enough to throw them out for the CPC in 2006. Libs never recover from the scandal fallout in Quebec.

I tend to agree. The NDP is basically for the far Left, or, as in Quebec, the uninformed.

- Liberals choose Dion as leader, Dion is horrid, Libs continue to sputter.

- Libs choose Iggy as leader, he's even worse, and lefties all jump on the snowballing NDP bandwagon as a left-wing alternative. Lying scumbag leaders like Dalton McGuinty in ON don't help the Liberal cause.

Ok, so what's the main pattern here? Horrible leadership + corrupt/lying politicians. Therefore, the solution is to find a leader who is likable, competent, & electable (ie: NOT Bob Rae!), while working to be more honest to repair their reputation as lying/corrupt scumbags. Then just hope the electorate doesn't get too comfy with Layton. All easier said than done, but that's it!

I agree that their leaders have been horrible. I do think, however that the time may be nigh for a merger with the NDP. The parties should define themselves away from the center, to give the voters some real choice. The NDP is too far left to govern, which is why I conclude that the Liberal brand, or something like it, is viable. That doesn't, however, preclude merger if the existing state of affairs from now on leads to the kind of vote-splitting that bedeviled the right-of-center from 1993 until the 2004 election.

[bloodyminded]

I tend to agree. The NDP is basically for the far Left,

This was false when the NDP was garnering only a few seats. Now it seems even more preposterous.

I suspect you believe--as do many of our conservative Canadians--that "left" and "right," so far as they're meaningful, are to be determined by the political discourse of the United States of America.

Why this should be so...has so far remained utterly unanswered by anyone, to my knowledge.

[bush_cheney2004]

...I suspect you believe--as do many of our conservative Canadians--that "left" and "right," so far as they're meaningful, are to be determined by the political discourse of the United States of America.

Yep...just like climate change data from NASA!

Why this should be so...has so far remained utterly unanswered by anyone, to my knowledge.

I think you know why...I sure do.

[bloodyminded]

Yep...just like climate change data from NASA!

I think you know why...I sure do.

Well, the answer you would give is superior to the answer the "let's compare ourselves to the Americans" would give...since you would have an answer, and they would not; they would not even be aware that there might be an explanation for the twin phenomena of the superiority/inferiority complex.

[bush_cheney2004]

Well, the answer you would give is superior to the answer the "let's compare ourselves to the Americans" would give...since you would have an answer, and they would not; they would not even be aware that there might be an explanation for the twin phenomena of the superiority/inferiority complex.

They go hand in hand....I don't know why a viable stand-alone framework doesn't exist for much of Canadian discourse, perhaps it is just easier this way.

[bloodyminded]

They go hand in hand....I don't know why a viable stand-alone framework doesn't exist for much of Canadian discourse, perhaps it is just easier this way.

Maybe it is that simple. Hallowed by tradition and sanctified by time. It's just not really considered very much, so is reflexive.

[bush_cheney2004]

Maybe it is that simple. Hallowed by tradition and sanctified by time. It's just not really considered very much, so is reflexive.

Well, the funny part is that the terms are French and British in origin, but the co-opted media driven versions from America are celebrated in Canada. Go figure....

[jbg]

Liberal Party isn't really broken, so nothing to fix.

It just shrunk because it had no any directions, and nothing practical to offer.

As people on the Board know, I am no fan of Pierre Elliot Trudeau, starting with his truncation of his "Elliot" heritage. That being said, I watched some clips of him speaking last night. I can't help but feel that he had real beliefs and passions, even if he was a dilletante.

I'd trade him for a Chretien or a Paul Martin any day. I think he truly believed in a just, united society, even if the way he sought about achieving it was totally misguided. I'd rather go jaw-to-jaw with someone I thoroughly disagree with than have someone "agree" with me to my face and stick a knife in my back.

[jbg]

I suspect you believe--as do many of our conservative Canadians--that "left" and "right," so far as they're meaningful, are to be determined by the political discourse of the United States of America.

Why this should be so...has so far remained utterly unanswered by anyone, to my knowledge.

Canada is a unique country, but there are similarities in physical size, language and history. Obviously the countries are comparable. There's no denying that.