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NDP Leadership # 113
March 1, 2012 - 8:54am
V
For the umpteenth time: IF Mulcair pulls more ahead and that leads to more attacks on him by opponents, that is because they want to win, not because of some bullshit self-serving paranoid fantasy notion of an anti-Mulcair coalition.
I and a number of other people around here are strongly anti-Mulcair, often more so than being in favour of a candidate and/or the choice of candidate came later and changes. Not only is that our privilege which should be respected, but we ARE individual members.
We are not candidates, nor are we campaigns, or their representatives, or their surrogates. And no matter how devoted you are to a candidate, you should be able to get your nose away from the grindstone far enough to see the difference.
Well this is certainly strange news: Mario Dumont will moderate the final french debate this sunday.
Yes, that Mario Dumont.
It does seem strange.
But the moderator in Halifax was the former editor and columnist form the local newspaper. He's not by any means a closet New Dem. And I asked him, he was approached by the party- from Ottawa, not the locals.
That went quite well. The hope is that the questions put to the candidates will have a little more edge, and/or that an outsider will have less fear of stepping on toes.
And Dumont seems further out there than going to a mainstream reporter, but maybe not.
wow, that's a puzzler. i think they're probably trying to gin up local media interest. dumont, wow.
funny enough, dumont is oddly appropriate: he led the adq to a massive breakthrough at the provincial level to sweep the pq to 3rd place and become official opposition, but then during the next election, the party was essentially swept right back out. he knows the vagaries of quebec elections better than most, and also how they can work against you. wonder if he'll ask a question along those lines, haha. i just get this hilarious mental image of paul dewar sort of stumbling through some answer about the next 70 seats with that over-his-head look he has, while everyone in the room is thinking about the destruction of the adq.
Raymond Côte, MP for Beauport—Limoilou, is endorsing Peggy Nash.
Côte has stated: "Peggy is the best choice for Quebec. The remarkable team she has attracted here is a testament to the hope she inspires, the energy she ignites, and the sincere reverence she has for our unique perspective and experience."
http://peggynash.ca/2012/nash-adds-another-quebec-mp-to-list-of-endorsers/
Chisholm endorses Mulcair in NDP leadership race
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/68728-chisholm-endorses-mulcair-...
Mulcair was Jack Layton’s Quebec lieutenant. His high profile in that province has propelled him to front-runner status in the NDP leadership race.
Increasingly, the race is becoming a referendum between the more left wing section of the party and the faction — characterized by Mulcair — that supports a Nova Scotia-style push to the centre in order to seize enough mass appeal to unseat the Conservatives.
Mulcair has publicly advocated leaving the "1950s boilerplate" social democracy language behind to win over new voters. Chisholm fully endorses this view.
"I draw on my own experience, which was do we want to form government in Nova Scotia? Do we actually want to have power? Do we want to affect change?" said Chisholm.
"That’s what Tom’s talking about. This idea that we’re going to change our values and principles, that’s just nonsense. It’s about being relevant to more Canadians."
Chisholm said Mulcair has the experience, steady hand and fire in the belly to take on Stephen Harper.
In a phone interview, Mulcair praised Chisholm as "a tremendous ally" and said his endorsement "is really a crucial element of my campaign."
Rival candidates such as Peggy Nash and Brian Topp have criticized Mulcair as someone who risks selling out the ideals of the party in pursuing the centre. They argue that the surge to 103 seats — now 102 following a defection to the Liberals — in last year’s election shows the NDP strategy is working.
Mulcair disagrees. In recent debates, he has noted that the NDP has far surpassed the Liberals but they still remain well short of forming the government. That means appealing to people outside the NDP becomes the goal.
But he also rejects the idea that he wants to move the party to the centre and once told the Toronto Star he wants to move the centre to the NDP.
On Wednesday, he said he doesn’t want to change the principles of the party but wants to reach out to people who share the NDP’s goals but have not voted for the party.
What is the likelyhood of anyone winning on the first ballot?
Good endorsement for Peggy (i.e. the senior MP from Quebec City). Mulcair campaigned with him last election and the campaign was profiled on CPAC. That CPAC profile showed how the wave was starting to break. Cote had run several times before, no one he met going door to door seemed to know that, and they were all voting NDP "this time." He also had almost no campaign materials to give any of the supporters- barely had enough for himself. Interesting stuff. The media asked Cote what was going on and he didn't really seem to know himself but said the NDP's message was resonating.
In other news, Dewar's camp has a new MP endorsement coming,
and Mulcair promises two endorsements tomorrow, one that will be "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything."
I assume by that he means he will receive an endorsement from his 42nd MP.
MP endorsements so far:
Ashton (5)
Herself
Choquette, Francois
Hughes, Carol
Larose, Jean Francois
Raynault, Francine
Cullen (4)
Himself
Atamenko, Alex
Donnelly, Fin
Masse, Brian
Dewar (7)
Himself
Angus, Charlie
Duncan, Linda
Gravelle, Claude
Laverdiere, Helene
Mai, Hoang
Mathyssen, Irene
Mulcair (42)
Himself
Aubin, Robert
Ayala, Paulina
Brahmi, Tarik
Blanchette, Denis
Brosseau, Ruth Ellen
Chicoine, Sylvian
Chisholm, Robert
Cleary, Ryan
Davies, Don
Day, Anne Marie
Dube, Matthew
Dusseault, Pierre Luc
Genest, Rejean
Genest-Jourdain, Jonathan
Groguhe, Sadia
Harris, Dan
Hassainia, Sana
Jacob, Pierre
Kellway, Matthew
Labelle, Pierre Dionne
Lapointe, Francois
Latendresse, Alexandrine
LeBlanc, Helene
Marston, Wayne
Morin, Marc-Andre
Morin, Marie-Claude
Nantel, Pierre
Nicholls, Jamie
Nunez-Melo, Jose
Papillon, Annick
Patry, Claude
Peclet, Eve
Perreault, Manon
Pilon, Francois
Rafferty, John
Ravignat, Matthew
Rousseau, Jean
Sellah, Djaouida
Thibeault, Glen
Toone, Phillip
Tremblay, Jonathan
Nash (10)
Herself
Boutin-Sweet, Marjolaine
Cote, Raymond
Garrison, Randall
Liu, Laurin
Minh-Thu Quach, Anne
Michaud, Elaine
Morin, Dany
Sullivan, Mike
Savioe, Danielle
Topp (12)
Boivin, Francoise
Borg, Charmane
Boulerice, Alexandre
Charlton, Chris
Crowder, Jean
Davies, Libby
Giguere, Alain
Godin, Yvon
Morin, Isabelle
Sandhu, Jasbir
Sims, Jenny
Stewart, Kennedy
Undeclared MPs (22):
Allen, Malcolm
Benskin, Tyrone
Bevington, Dennis
Blanchette-Lamothe, Lysane
Caron, Guy
Cash, Andrew
Christopherson, David
Chow, Oliva
Comartin, Joe
Dore Lefebvre
Freeman, Mylene
Harris, Jack
Hyer, Bruce
Julian, Peter
Leslie, Megan
Martin, Pat
Moore, Christine
Sitsabaiesan, Rathika
Stoffer, Peter
Thibeault, Glen
Tremblay, Jonathan
Turmel, Nicole
Women (35)
Ashton: 3
Cullen: 0
Dewar: 3
Mulcair: 12
Nash: 3
Topp: 7
Undeclared:7
Pre 2011 (35)
Ashton: 2
Cullen: 4
Dewar: 5
Mulcair: 5
Nash: 2
Topp: 4
Undeclared: 13
BC (11)
Ashton: 0
Cullen: 3
Dewar: 0
Mulcair: 1
Nash: 2
Topp: 4
Undeclared: 1
Prairies/North (4)
Ashton: 1
Cullen: 0
Dewar: 1
Mulcair: 0
Nash: 0
Topp: 0
Undeclared: 2
Ontario (22)
Ashton: 1
Cullen: 1
Dewar: 4
Mulcair: 5
Nash: 2
Topp: 1
Undeclared: 8
Quebec (58)
Mulcair: 34
Topp: 5
Nash: 6
Ashton: 3
Dewar: 2
Cullen: 0
Undeclared: 8
Atlantic (6)
Ashton: 0
Cullen: 0
Dewar: 0
Mulcair: 2
Nash: 0
Topp: 1
Undeclared: 3
Tom Mulcair has tweeted that he will have 2 big endorsements tomorrow, one of whom will be the "answer to life, the universe and everything"
Sounds like LTU's dog. It can't be my dog Angus who has alreay enndorsed Tom (who gave him an autographed poster.) Angus is an Irish wolfhound and is showing ethnic solidarity as well as good taste.
Maybe I shdnt have teased Dewar for calling his Angus a gamechanger.
Any bets who it is?
I'm guessing Dewar announces Saganash, which would be pretty cool if true.
Interesting guessing about Romeo.
Is he waiting because he isnt sure yet? Or he is sure, but the campaign in question wants to wait for the announcement?
[And no idea who, but I don't see anything to go on for that guess. Could be Ashton, or nobody, for all I can guess.]
I could see Christine Moore endorse Mulcair. Any guesses as to who his endorsers might be tomorrow?
Lou, I think it is Nycole Turmel, but I can forgive you the mis-spelling
How many of the undeclared have said they will remain neutral? I know Chow, Turmel, Martin, and Stoffer have said they will do so.
On second guess, Mulcair was just in Windsor. He often, but not always, announces endorsements after visiting an area. Could it be Joe Comartin?
Last guess= Malcolm Allen.
Mulcair is in Welland tonight. Anyone want to take me up on a friendly bet it is Malcolm Allen. If I lose, you get to choose a new byline for me on babble (currently "Oldgoat's dog for leader"). I will post the byline of your choice (so long as it doesn't violate babble policy) for 24hrs.
I said it early on, and I'll say it again now. The worst advertisement against Mulcair is often his own supporters. Remember when the Liberals tell us "sorry, if you want to stop the Conservatives, you HAVE to vote for us?" Remember how obnoxious it was? I sometimes think that 20% of the reason I vote for the NDP is out of spite. New Democrats resent arguments like "the only candidate", "let's coalesce", "if we want to win"... They resent the horserace period, let alone the argument that the race is already done so it's time to pack it in.
Albeit, I've since found that some of his worst critics are even more obnoxious, even if they have a reasonable point once you take out all the hyperbole.
But if you all want to persuade people like me to vote a certain way, quit trying to strong arm me. Again, spite is definitely a factor in how I vote. :)
Dewar said he would be unveiling a "senior caucus member endorsement," and while Saganash would certainly be a huge caucus endorsement, Saganash can't really be described as a "senior caucus member" given that he was only elected last year.
I'll be interested in seeing who Dewar rolls out. Malcolm Allen? Dennis Bevington? David Christopherson? Joe Comartin? Bruce Hyer?
i wonder what position dewar will promise to tomorrow's endorser, governor general in waiting?
as for speculation about mulcair's endorsers tomorrow, the answer to "life, the universe and everthing" is 42, meaning he's rolling out another mp endorsement (which i think howard mentioned sort of obliquely). my guess for mulcair is that it's either malcolm allen or bruce hyer.
I like Nathan Cullen and am supportive of his idea of merging the opposition in some ridings to take down the Cons. It definitely has a lot of merit to it, and Nathan is not the flake some people have suggested he is.
Toronto Developer's $1,200 Donation to Topp's NDP Leadership Campaign Draws Some Criticism
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2012/02/29/toronto-developer's
"A 1,200 campaign contribution to NDP leadership candidate Brian Topp received from a Toronto developer who raised money for Rob Ford's 2010 election campaign is drawing criticism from opponents..."
not to mention those powerful corporate lawfirms...
I agree, but the strategic problem is, will he agree to merge with the Bloc in some Quebec ridings? How would that be received in English Canada? And if he doesn't agree to it, how would that be received in Quebec?
Even if it turns out to be an unworkable strategy, I respect Cullen for thinking of this in terms of empowering local ridings to make their decisions, as well as for his strong commitment to PR.
Ok that clinches it. He's got my vote. ;)
Dennis Bevington has endorsed Paul Dewar.
Good get. Nathan Cullen has visited the North (Yukon?), have any of the other NDP leadership candidates done so as well?
What does Thomas Mulcair want to do with the NDP?
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/02/27/what-does-thomas-mulcair-want-to-do-w...