Lingenfelter wins NDP leadership in Saskatchewan

I'm surprised that Deb Higgins, the only candidate with a seat in the House, finished last on the first ballot.

Sounds like the Meili vote of 45% on the final ballot was pretty much an "anyone-but-Link" vote rather than a pro-Meili vote.

From what I've read and heard about Lingenfelter, I don't have any problem with his politics, but I question whether he's the person to spearhead an NDP renewal.

Could somebody at least get the guy to change his name to something a little more charismatic?

I mean, could anyone imagine silkscreen posters that said "Be Like Dwain"?

This is a great choice if the polls showed that the NDP lost because the last guy was too cool and exciting.

Not Being from Sask,  its hard to comment on why Lingenfelter got the nod.  Does anyone know why he won the leadership race, and why the NDP choose to back this person over the other candidates?

Because they are foolish?

While rummaging through some old papers on the weekend I came across an envelope containing my report cards from school. In 1966 I was "a high-spirited boy" who had to be "sat on" occasionally.  

I also found an NDP membership card from 1978. It was black and green with the old non-stylized Peace Tower logo.

Lingenfelter seeems to come from that era.  The Nude Ems had a chance to start anew, but fell back on the worn out and stale.

No, the Liberal Party doesn't matter whatsoever. 

You may have heard that a few years ago the Conservatives and many Liberals merged into the Sask Party.  They're the problem.  The Liberal Party is irrelevant in Saskatchewan.

Which further reinforces the increasingly obvious central idea that LiberTories and Conservabrals are interchangeable one for the other. It's a one-off stooge-off

I know what the SaskaTories are about. The previous crooks and liars in Devine's Conservative government ran the province into the ground and went to jail for thieving from the taxpayers. And that left a hole for some more crooks and liars to fill.

And the effin' Liberal Party is still on the outside looking in. And these SaskaTories will be tempted to dirty deal sooner or later. They have a tough act to follow with the NDP. An' that's the story in Saskatchewan.

gag puke, Ross Thatcher, he remains a lasting memory for me after all these years away, I can still see his piggy eyes buried in a red bloated face, almost running over us on election day, as he was screaming about the riding threatening people to vote for him. Followed by his walking out of a restaurant telling the waitress he did not have to pay his bill because he was premier, and she could just suck it up herself.

You shoulda tried living in the same district area as him, and knowing him and his murderous son your whole youthful life. My parents fought long and hard to get him out of power.

Colin, though much older than I and the same age as my oldest sister, and I, used to regularily get into verbal fights on Friday afternoons, he was good friends with my first employer and would stop by before the store closed Fridays for drinks and pickled herring. But the funny thing was he was so lacking in wits, it was like shooting fish in a barrel to have a political fight with him. Definite shadow of his father and nothingmore politically, but took his sense of privilege and misogyny to a whole other level than Ross.

Yes, they say it's a small world. Argue was in the red chamber at the last - an even smaller world. He disowned the CCF-NDP and they him.

And Thatcher was a Liberal premier of Sask.

And his son Colin wasnt sure if he was a Liberal or Tory and prolly murdered his wife after deciding it didnt matter.

Except that far more floor crossings from Liberal to Tory and vice versa occur(and supporting the widely-held view that the two property parties' politicos are interchangeable) than from the NDP to the old line parties. In fact, the NDP has proposed legislation to stop the very undemocratic practice of floor-crossing.  And guess which two very compatible and very similar old line parties voted it down. I dont expect you to answer that one seeing as youre full of baloney and all.

Liberals and Tories are so compatible they formed whole new parties together with the SaskaTories provincially and BQ federally. ReformaTories and Liberalers united on the right and are now in phony minority government with the Liberals propping them up with over 71 confidence votes in the House - further proof there's not a ray of sunshine between 'em.

And you can't be an NDP'er and a Canadian senator at the same time, which tends to support what I am saying while at the same time, not supporting your spurious claim against the NDP.

I disagree with you here,  in the case of Thatcher it was pretty much forced explusion and Argue's ego would not accept his defeat by Tommy and it also meant that he had lost the respect of those who formerly supported him.

Plus, the hegemony that the Orange Order had would not tolerate actual workers and farmers having control of themselves.

coyote, I was young too in the Thatcher years, and was just 16 when I would have those social political arguements with Colin.

As to the phoney charge that Colin was framed, there was no way in hell he was.

And, for example, despite the fact that 82% of voters in the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway voted not to have a Conservative Member of Parliament they were saddled with one anyway with David Emerson realizing only after the election that ReformaTories and he are totally compatible.

What in hell is wrong with these people? It's a revolving door between the two dirty old line parties. And that's just the way they like things to be, too.

And the two very compatible and indistinquishable old line parties voted down the NDP's proposal to end the very undemocratic maneuvering of floor crossing. Liberals and Tories think democracy is a game of hippity-hop at the barber shop. They should be horsewhipped

Well that is good news!

Getting back on track, it seems to me that Dwain Lingenfelter is the moderate choice which offers the only opportunity for the Saskatchewan NDP to take back power.  Look where the NDP has been successful: Manitoba and Nova Scotia.  Both victories were secured by the NDP moving away from ideology and toward bread and butter issues that people can relate to.  That and running candidates who are reflective of that shift.  Where the NDP gets in to trouble, ie in Ontario and BC is when it views elections as an opportunity for all special interest groups to have their say.  At that point, the NDP ceases to be a party that is viewed as credible to govern and is viewed more as a collection of special interest groups.  UNfortunately, that's just the way it is. 

Any old line party shananigans with putting them in a debt hole or pawning off public utilities to rich friends of the Devine-a-Tories or (gulp) thieving from the taxpayers again, and I think this SaskaTory government will be kicking stones down the road for another sixteen years. SaskaTories are on a short leash til next election.

Could you give me an example of a "special interest group"?

Good job al'q, and people need to start rebutting accusations of special interest groups within the NDP with that kinda response!

"As for floor crossing, the Liberals who were kicked out of their own party after joining a coalition with the NDP after the '99 election decided to join the NDP. I don't recall any by-elections."

Those Liberals sat as Independents and then ran for NDP nominations and ran as New Democrats in the 2004 Saskatchewan election. When Buckley Belanger (who was first elected as a Liberal) wanted to switch to the NDP he had to resign and run in a byelection as a New Democrat (he won with 90% of the vote).

I stand corrected on the floor crossing point, Stockholm. That said, 3/4s of the Saskatchewan Liberal party, the party of Ross Thatcher, had no problem joining the Saskatchewan NDP. I think that's telling enough in its own right.

As for Big Daddy, whenever anyone dares criticize the status quo someone always seems to bring up the old canard about how only the "moderates" can "win". My question to that is, why should anyone besides partisan hacks care if the NDP wins power if they aren't going to do anything with it? Why should I care if the party slashing taxes for the rich calls itself "NDP" or "Conservative"? After 16 years of NDP government, the rich are richer, the poor are poorer and the environent is as screwed as ever.

If putting an oil executive in the premier's chair is your grand progressive project, count me out.

"3/4 of the Saskatchewan Liberal party" did not join the Saskatchewan NDP. Two MLAs did after they had been kicked out of the Liberal party. Not the same thing.

Yep, 'cause that's the way all white males think, and only white males think that way. Stereotypes are such a timesaver, eh Ken?

Again, what would be an example of a "special interest group"?

Weyerhauser?

Yep, and yet they elected him leader anyway! he will be the gift that keeps on giving to destroy the SK NDP.

That was supposed to be Liberal caucus, not party. And it should have been 2/3, not 3/4.

My point, however, remains.

The new babble bites.

Still nothing from "Big Daddy" about who those "special interests" are.

And of course, ghoris, people who aren't white and male do, on rare occasions, hold the attitudes"Big Daddy" expresses here.  I was talking about those that usually do.  It's really ridiculous to try and twist that into something offensive when it wasn't.  And, of course, as a white male who rejects "Big Daddy"'s elitist, exclusive and patriarchal views, I recognize that I'm in a historic minority(although one that may be changing as a result of the financial collapse.) Apparently, "Daddy" and I are both weird. So be it.

I read Conway's article last year. It still looks good, but has nothing changed?

Mr. Lingenfelter should never have won this race, there really was something strange going on in the party in this case. Lingenfelter was at the helm of a major political scandal and no one in Sask. really cared. I am from Regina and I have friends from Meadow Lake and the voter registration fraud took place in that Northern region (which is predominantly Aboriginal). The recruitment of 1,100 voters from the Meadow Lake area was not only mass voter fraud it was outright exploitation of people who had no participation in the party and in the process. Several constituents from Meadow Lake confirmed that no NDP member ever spoke to them personally and that it was near impossible to recruit over 1,100 members from the area in one fell swoop; most of these communities are disaffected with the provincial electoral process but that is another story. Lingenfelter was, of course, not held responsible for any wrongdoing citing that it was a rogue party member that put together this campaign in Meadow Lake and Lingenfelter had no connection to this mysterious person. This person then was disappeared and in fact this person was not even named. I guess it just did not happen at all. The local media ran with the story for a few days and the RCMP were ceremoniously brought-in and then nothing really happened. The investigation was over before it began. Lingenfelter was cleared of wrong-doing but the fact is that someone from his campaign was guilty. It was all surreal, as if this undemocratic and illegal political action did not even happen. Lingenfelter was at the helm and he was asked by certain members to leave the race but he refused and then ultimately he won.

The person that was held responsible was named Dennis Morin and he is some sort of volunteer with the party but if you ask me it all stinks. 

You are right, Mr. Lingenfelter is in bed with big business, i.e. - mass resource extraction corps. It is easy to ascertain that Lingenfelter is a neo-con but in a social-democrat's outfit and this is overt. Let's not forget the nuclear reactor that was supposed to be going under review directly by the people in Sask. but it now appears as if all the hoopla is over. The SaskParty has simply degreed that it will go ahead with the reactor in partnership with the U of S. No referendum was even proposed on the idea because the people might shoot the idea down, which was very possible; Lingenfelter was always in favour of the nuclear reactor. 

What I cannot understand is this - why are most of the Sask. NDP members uncaring about all of this? Their party has been overtaken by a leader who is not centre-minded he is right-wing minded in his action and in his words. I cannot explain it. Most valid NDP'ers that I speak to are against Lingenfelter, this includes professors, writers, and younger members. Then I guess the old-guard voted for him? Sad news for sure. 

How badly will the NDP have to do in the next Sask election(and it now looks like we can assume it WILL do badly)before Mr. Lingenfelter has to resign.

No charisma, no speaking skills, no ideas-was there a REASON the bigs and the wigs in the Sask NDP INSISTED Link had to be the guy?