Why the NDP will lose the next election

[socialist]

Mulcair & the NDP plan to revive the Kyoto corpse at Paris in November. Not one journalist that I'm aware of has asked Mr Mulcair to confirm he intends to sign Canada on to binding CO2 reductions, the like of which would ground our economy to depression. But they listen to him when he complains Harper has presided over two recessions - in nearly ten years with one barely a recession and now likely over - iow normal economics. We're doing better than everyone but at this moment apparently the socialist states of America is held up as statist success, in spite of the reality her recovery has been driven by private fracking of oil & gas, not government hostile to O&G development.

This would be on top of higher taxes for everyone, lots more regulation and all of us under the thumb of socialist apparatchiks beholden to statist rent seekers. A cursory look at the AB NDP tells the story.

Mulcair's free ride must end. His refusal to return $2.7m of taxpayer dollars must be questioned. His support for 50% +1 vote for separation by any province must be rebutted. His nonsense about $5b cost for $15/day national day care must be refuted. His smoke and mirrors, peek a boo nonsense has to stop now.

It's been said the population is divided into thirds: one third do the work, make the productivity and prosperity happen; one third live off the one third who produce; one third govern the other two thirds. So, all a politician has to do is win over two thirds against one third. Guess which two groups Mulcair is trying to win over. A poll just came out that said 1/3 of Canadians feel they're "falling behind," whatever that means. So, 2/3 feel that are "not falling behind."

That should be plenty of votes to secure a Harper majority. That sentiment must be tapped into; the heck with "divisive politics" mantra from dippers and grits; to heck with the media's sneering assessment of Harper who is doing a great job here and internationally except according to the Kyoto kleptocrats & watermelons who want to sell our economy down the Seine River this November in Paris.

[Smallc]

This is what NDP governments do. Is this what you want federally?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-s-credit-rating-downgraded-due-to-growing-debt-1.3147120

Under the same NDP government, the credit rating has actually been upgraded 2 - 3 times. The NDP ran balanced budgets until the global financial crisis, and while still recovering from that, Manitoba suffered from the worst flood in our history. Things have been difficult.

[socialist]

I don't know what the NDP were thinking when they elected Mulcair their leader. He has been a member of whatever party will have him at the moment - never mind political philosophy. Mulcair is in it for himself - full stop. He will tell anyone whatever they want to hear even if it means contradiction from one jurisdiction to another. The only other person I have known to do this is Tim Hudak and look where that got him.

[Rue]

Cyber you really want to invoke the thought police to correct people from calling politicians nick names? Really? Man talk about a left winger. You fit the tee. Mr. Progressive until you want to censor people and arrest them for speaking ill of their glorious bastards. Lol.

Harper has puffy hair and looks like a 1950's style lesbian-right down to the walk and suit and hair. Justin Trudea has a lisp that turns him into a mix of Sylvester the Cat and the late Paul Lynde and Mulcair looks and sounds like a cross between a woodchuck, drag queen and someone on laxatives. As for Ms. May she does not look like she washes regularly, eats out of garbage bins, and hasn't brushed her teeth in years and those are just her positive qualities. Dont get me going when she shows up drunk for speeches and drools.

Relax. Its called political satire. Next you will want to call the police. Give it a rest. Politicians run for public office. That means they are fair game. You think everyone must walk about like they have hemmeroids, fine, but you live your high moral fibre diet, I will settle for mine.

Who you kidding, whose ever end it comes out of, the stink is the same. That is the point.

Back to Socialist, I second everything he said and think Mulcair is a big poo poo head and lying through his teeth to try get centrist votes away from the Tories with his sudden hatred of deficits. What a crock but some will buy it so much so I think he wil get a majority not even a minority unless some major world event blows up in the next month.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Rue

[cybercoma]

Cyber you really want to invoke the thought police to correct people from calling politicians nick names? Really? Man talk about a left winger.

They're not my forum rules and if you were paying attention you would notice that I also called out Topaz for doing it to Harper. As for the rest of your post, I don't waste my time past your first paragraphs. Learn to be concise.

[On Guard for Thee]

Cyber you really want to invoke the thought police to correct people from calling politicians nick names? Really? Man talk about a left winger. You fit the tee. Mr. Progressive until you want to censor people and arrest them for speaking ill of their glorious bastards. Lol.

Harper has puffy hair and looks like a 1950's style lesbian-right down to the walk and suit and hair. Justin Trudea has a lisp that turns him into a mix of Sylvester the Cat and the late Paul Lynde and Mulcair looks and sounds like a cross between a woodchuck, drag queen and someone on laxatives. As for Ms. May she does not look like she washes regularly, eats out of garbage bins, and hasn't brushed her teeth in years and those are just her positive qualities. Dont get me going when she shows up drunk for speeches and drools.

Relax. Its called political satire. Next you will want to call the police. Give it a rest. Politicians run for public office. That means they are fair game. You think everyone must walk about like they have hemmeroids, fine, but you live your high moral fibre diet, I will settle for mine.

Who you kidding, whose ever end it comes out of, the stink is the same. That is the point.

Back to Socialist, I second everything he said and think Mulcair is a big poo poo head and lying through his teeth to try get centrist votes away from the Tories with his sudden hatred of deficits. What a crock but some will buy it so much so I think he wil get a majority not even a minority unless some major world event blows up in the next month.

Well that was quite a waste of breath.

[BC_chick]

Watching her in the debates and on the media, she is good.....i may not like all of her policies, but she is always prepared, with details and facts.....far more than the other guys.....rarely does she wing it or spew the same pre programed answers over and over....i much rather see her than the NDP or Liberals in charge....to bad she was'nt more on the right.....

Definitely better than Trudeau or Mulcair, I agree. And sure, she may be too left for anything under the current system but they have a steady base for what is essentially an irrelevant party and if the NDP actually goes through with their election promise of electoral reform, we would see a lot more support for them.

Something tells me that Mulcair would never go through with his election promise though if he were to win. He is just a snake oil salesman.

[BC_chick]

Back to Socialist, I second everything he said and think Mulcair is a big poo poo head and lying through his teeth to try get centrist votes away from the Tories with his sudden hatred of deficits. What a crock but some will buy it so much so I think he wil get a majority not even a minority unless some major world event blows up in the next month.

If Mulcair gets a majority it's a testament of terrible Harper is, nothing else.

[Vega]

I don't think people realize how atypical the Greens are here. They're pretty right leaning and conservative outside of Environmental issues.

They're certainly not to the left of the NDP (yet).

That being said, the NDP should have picked Ashton for leader last leadership contest.

[Evening Star]

I don't think people realize how atypical the Greens are here. They're pretty right leaning and conservative outside of Environmental issues.

They're certainly not to the left of the NDP (yet).

I've read their policy book and watched May in debate and I'm not sure this is true in 2015. On what issues is this the case? They are also in favour of raising corporate taxes, are at least as willing to go after offshore tax havens, are more open to returning to borrowing from the Bank of Canada, are more sceptical of free trade deals, are less obsessed with balanced budgets, are more anti-war. Honestly, I'm not sure the Greens were ever to the right of the Liberals.

Edited August 30, 2015 by Evening Star

[Evening Star]

I mean, in 1993, the Greens were definitely to the right of the NDP.

[Vancouver King]

I've read their policy book and watched May in debate and I'm not sure this is true in 2015. On what issues is this the case ... at least as willing to go after offshore tax havens, .

Say it ain't so...willing to go after offshore tax havens ....the horror, the horror.

[Vega]

I've read their policy book and watched May in debate and I'm not sure this is true in 2015. On what issues is this the case? They are also in favour of raising corporate taxes, are at least as willing to go after offshore tax havens, are more open to returning to borrowing from the Bank of Canada, are more sceptical of free trade deals, are less obsessed with balanced budgets, are more anti-war. Honestly, I'm not sure the Greens were ever to the right of the Liberals.

I think we'll be able to more accurately compare once the NDP comes out with a Policy Book.

[Evening Star]

Say it ain't so...willing to go after offshore tax havens ....the horror, the horror.

Yeah, that's a point in favour of the Greens imo.

[Vega]

I've read their policy book and watched May in debate and I'm not sure this is true in 2015. On what issues is this the case? They are also in favour of raising corporate taxes, are at least as willing to go after offshore tax havens, are more open to returning to borrowing from the Bank of Canada, are more sceptical of free trade deals, are less obsessed with balanced budgets, are more anti-war. Honestly, I'm not sure the Greens were ever to the right of the Liberals.

You know, I've actually looked at the Greens platform that they have online, and I think you're right.

I must say that they're actually considerably to the left of the NDP. I don't think it would be a stretch to call them Democratic Socialists, like the NDP used to be.

I quite like the direction May has taken them in.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Vega

[Freddy]

Well I'll shift my vote from liberal to conservative, like many young families with one parent at home will do. harpers bought my vote . Disney world here I come!!!

[ToadBrother]

Well I'll shift my vote from liberal to conservative, like many young families with one parent at home will do. harpers bought my vote . Disney world here I come!!!

And you're not at all worried that at some point you'll have to pay for that?

[Freddy]

And you're not at all worried that at some point you'll have to pay for that?

No because when your wife makes under the 8 000 minimum. All the money Harper gave you doesn't get taxed at all.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Freddy

[Evening Star]

To make matters worse, the NDP's traditional base is shifting to the Greens all over the country. A Quebec MP from Montreal announced this weekend that he will be running for the Greens. In New Brunswick, the former leader of the NDP in the province put her support behind the Green party in the provincial election.

Why are they bleeding support? Because Tom Mulcair's NDP is a centrist labour party. They're social democrats and the democratic socialists that traditionally made up a significant proportion of NDP support are dissatisfied with the party moving to the right. Many will hold their noses and vote Anything But Conservative this fall; however, a lot of these folks are of the mind that they would rather vote for a party that represents their views than play the ABC game.

I am under no illusions that they will even win a seat but, interestingly, the Communist Party seems to have basically become a Keynesian social democratic party.

[cybercoma]

Two weeks to go and Mulcair has to pull this one out of the fire.

It won't happen and here's why.

Mulcair needed to be a strong leader that was willing to take the fight to Harper. That's why he was nominated as the NDP leader. However, he also needed to show that he holds social democratic values of building co-operative relationships. This is a tough act to handle, as they're two qualities that are opposed to each other. How can you be combative, yet still be perceived as someone looking to build bridges?

I'll tell you how. You look at Justin Trudeau.

Trudeau has been the leader that the NDP thought they elected when they got Tom Mulcair. This is why the Liberals have been able to eat the NDP's lunch this election. Justin Trudeau has walked that tightrope of being fiery and passionate about the issues, taking it to Stephen Harper in the debates and not backing down, whilst also showing that he's willing to work with others and build bridges. He's the leader that the NDP wanted and that's why he's so appealing to NDP voters at this point in the election.

Mulcair is losing (lost?) because Question Period Tom didn't show up to the party. Instead, we got stump speech Tom, pragmatic Tom, Tom with no passion or fire. We got conservative Tom.

This election is over for the NDP and it's exactly because the best New Democrat in the country is the leader of the Liberal Party.

[BC_chick]

No because when your wife makes under the 8 000 minimum. All the money Harper gave you doesn't get taxed at all.

Yeah, who cares about science, social-services, the environment, our role in the global community... as long as you're not taxed on your bribe.

[ToadBrother]

Mulcair is losing (lost?) because Question Period Tom didn't show up to the party. Instead, we got stump speech Tom, pragmatic Tom, Tom with no passion or fire. We got conservative Tom.

This election is over for the NDP and it's exactly because the best New Democrat in the country is the leader of the Liberal Party.

I can't think of anything Mulcair has done that was wrong. He's lead the most disciplined of the three campaigns, has projected a mature confidence and in some respects probably had the most inclusive platform.

I think the problem simply is that if there is an Anybody But Harper movement, and I have every reason to think there's a significant portion of the electorate that does want the Tories out, they weren't going to really work with strategic voting; it's just too complicated and frankly, fraught with peril, as many ridings simply do not have accurate enough data.

In other words, the ABH crowd had to pick a winner, and in the end, they picked the Liberals. I think it's been in the cards since Trudeau won the leadership, and while he's had his up and downs, at the end of the day, and for reasons both good and bad, he's the more attractive of the two leaders.

The final coup de grâce was the long election, which seems to have played against the NDP. A normal one month election might have seen election day come while the NDP were still on top, but they peaked early while the Tories recovered enough that a lot of potential ABH voters have become sufficiently spooked that they decided they need to move to what they perceived to be the stronger party.

At the end of the day, Mulcair was the one stuck fighting a two front war, while the Tories and Liberals played it like they were the only parties that mattered, and in doing so, they have managed to cast that as the narrative in the final two weeks of the election.

[BC_chick]

Trudeau has been the leader that the NDP thought they elected when they got Tom Mulcair. This is why the Liberals have been able to eat the NDP's lunch this election. Justin Trudeau has walked that tightrope of being fiery and passionate about the issues, taking it to Stephen Harper in the debates and not backing down, whilst also showing that he's willing to work with others and build bridges. He's the leader that the NDP wanted and that's why he's so appealing to NDP voters at this point in the election.

Mulcair is losing (lost?) because Question Period Tom didn't show up to the party. Instead, we got stump speech Tom, pragmatic Tom, Tom with no passion or fire. We got conservative Tom.

This election is over for the NDP and it's exactly because the best New Democrat in the country is the leader of the Liberal Party.

I've been saying for some time that Trudeau is better suited for NDP and Mulcair is better suited for NDP, but I'm not sure I agree that Trudeau has been appealing to the NDP vote because Mulcair is too centrist and lacking passion. First, even if Mulcair is too centrist, his policies are certainly more left than Trudeau and that itself is enough to put off a lot of progressive voters who are willing to hold their nose and vote for Mulcair's platform. Second, I thought Mulcair showed a lot of passion in the debates (except for the first one) and he did put up a good fight against Harper.

I have no idea how any progressive NDP supporter can bring themselves to vote Liberal other than the possibility that they think Trudeau has a better chance of winning... and he's *slightly* better than Harper.

[ToadBrother]

I've been saying for some time that Trudeau is better suited for NDP and Mulcair is better suited for NDP, but I'm not sure I agree that Trudeau has been appealing to the NDP vote because Mulcair is too centrist and lacking passion. First, even if Mulcair is too centrist, his policies are certainly more left than Trudeau and that itself is enough to put off a lot of progressive voters who are willing to hold their nose and vote for Mulcair's platform. Second, I thought Mulcair showed a lot of passion in the debates (except for the first one) and he did put up a good fight against Harper.

I have no idea how any progressive NDP supporter can bring themselves to vote Liberal other than the possibility that they think Trudeau has a better chance of winning... and he's *slightly* better than Harper.

Actually, I think Trudeau has demonstrated very well in this election that he is a Liberal through and through. He's doing what Liberal PMs have been doing since Laurier; campaigning from the left. The NDP have long been confounded by how the Liberals are able to do this; campaign from the left, and then govern from the center, or sometimes even the right of center.

The NDP hoped a leader who was in all senses of the word a Liberal would cloud the issue enough to allow the NDP to essentially replace the Liberals. Project Liberal Party Destruction wasn't just a game the Tories were playing, but a mutual assault upon Canada's Natural Governing Party, and I think it's becoming very clear to both the Tories and the NDP that the great campaign to de-Grit Canada has not only failed, but failed absolutely. The Liberals may not get over the top this time around, but they are set up very well for the next election.

[BC_chick]

The NDP hoped a leader who was in all senses of the word a Liberal would cloud the issue enough to allow the NDP to essentially replace the Liberals. Project Liberal Party Destruction wasn't just a game the Tories were playing, but a mutual assault upon Canada's Natural Governing Party, and I think it's becoming very clear to both the Tories and the NDP that the great campaign to de-Grit Canada has not only failed, but failed absolutely. The Liberals may not get over the top this time around, but they are set up very well for the next election.

I agree and I'm actually quite happy to see that Harper didn't destroy the LPC. It also gives me great pleasure that it's a Trudeau that brought the party back around - that has to sting double for Harper. Even typing that made me smile.

However, Mulcair's platform is still a lot more left than Trudeau when it comes to social programs. Also, Trudeau's corporate tax rate is very right of centre, he supported C-51 and other than his stance on legalizing pot, there is very little I find 'left' about his platform. I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one.