babble is rabble.ca's discussion board but it's much more than that: it's an online community for folks who just won't shut up. It's a place to tell each other — and the world — what's up with our work and campaigns.
I have reservations about Mulcair on Israel too (although it's only a minor factor in my decision to support someone else). But I found IJV's "Mulcair is indistinguishable from Harper" to be completely over the top. They're allowed to make their case. I just think they would have been far more persuasive if they left out the hyperbole, and weren't so misleading about the UN bid issue. There was a far more persuasive case to be found in the number of donors connected to that mercenary scheme. I also think they'd have persuaded more people outside their immediate influence if they focused on a few candidates were good on this issue, instead of a feeble 11th hour youtube video to stop Mulcair.
it really is an interesting strategy of mulcair's to continue rolling out these fairly large groups of endorsements during convention week, it would seem to me that last week would have been the week to have done this. think about what we've seen from mulcair so far this week:
1) huge group of ontario endorsements
2) anti-scab legislation guarantee
3) 3.38 million fund to take on the cpc
4) huge group of nova scotia endorsements
clearly the campaign thought that it needed momentum going into the convention, but in terms of appeals to members, it seems to me that it would have been more sound to have dominated last week with these (and whatever else is coming) and played the bigger game for the ranked voting. then again, with how late the balloting packages seem to be coming in, and with the un-anticipated bitterness of the topp campaign's attacks, it could be that this strategy ends up working out for them. broadbent attacks - you have rafferty right in the trenches, more than a dozen solid endorsements, pat martin (we think) leaking to the hill times about topp's flailing campaign, some red meat for activists, etc.
Broadbent's last-minute endorsement of Jack Layton in 2003 seemed to have really helped him show momentum in the last days of that race; I suspect that Tom's campaign is attempting the same thing here.
But it does seem pretty clear what the new NDP will look like if Thomas Mulcair wins. It’s not going to be a consciously redistributionist NDP; Mulcair doesn’t, for example, seem to have any intention of hiking top-end marginal taxes on incomes. It will be an anti-some-companies NDP, especially oilpatch and mining companies, rather than anti-corporate per se. There’ll be plans for bigger EI and a bigger CPP, but all-new social programs won’t be emphasized, and the Mulcair platform is virtually silent when it comes to specific proposals in defence of private-sector labour. His program, as I read it, is one that defends and retrenches the achievements of Liberal Canada (while being much less categorical about federalism).
Mulcair is controlling the news cycle. By keeping the endorsements and announcements coming, he prevents the story from getting bogged down in petty bullshit. I have a certain amount of confidence in his ability as an organizer and a strategist. I just hope he understands the important role that members want to play. A lot of us feel an affinity towards the NDP not just because of what the top brass says, but how the top brass listens. The feeling that our participation matters. That's where a lot of excitement and enthusiasm comes from. We can't beat the media without that grassroots enthusiasm.
"But I want to really leave it to the members. I really need to have a mandate given to me by New Democrats to say that they're willing to get out of the bunkers, shake hands on some agreements together and make sure that we don't have a Conservative government again ... It would have to be driven from the grassroots. If they're into it, then I'm into it. If they're not, then we'll do it the old traditional way ... The real sticking point with the Bloc is that their fundamental purpose is to destroy the country. So to work with them in such an intimate way would be harmful to my view of Canada. I mean, they individually and many of their voters are progressive . Many of their voters came to us in the last election. But if the primary reason that the party exists is to dissolve Canada, then I can't count on sitting down with them for something like this."
... And that's all I need to know about Mr. Cullen.
kinda thought that way at first myself then i thought about contextual meaning
quizzical
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March 20, 2012 - 5:25pm
#2(permalink)
t'anks for the link duncan cameron in the last topic thread, i understand she was to say more on this from that opening document but io haven't heard anymore about it and what i see there does not go far enough for me in creating a manufacturing sector based upon our natural resources.
this thread is in the wrong section, could someone please move it?
anyway, i finally have to agree north report: dredging up layton's mother just seems desperate. i mean, this is it, the final 3 days, so go for anything you can, but still, this is something else. everything seems to be oriented toward smothering media mentions of nash and dewar by drawing the media into a topp vs mulcair frame. my guess is actually that it works better than we think it might, especially since the central office's screw-up on ballot packages means that many folks will be voting very close to convention (if at all, grrr).
KenS
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March 20, 2012 - 7:26pm
#7(permalink)
As to vetting.
You should see the vetting form that MP candidates have to fill out. We know that some stuff appears later, but it tends to be not top tier candidates and/or things it is hard to ask about.
And there is a vetting process for the leadership candidates. I dont know what the questions look like, but you can bet they are thorough, and are checked out... plus looking for things that candidates might 'forget'. At a bare mnimum things like debts, business connections, arrests, etc are all in there.
Here's an example, even a number of Dippers outside of Nova Scotia know of Robert Chisholm's 18 year old drunk driving convictuion that bit us hard at the end of a campaign. He disclosed that long before the campaign. It was known.
NorthReport
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March 20, 2012 - 8:17pm
#8(permalink)
I'm sure one of the reasons they can't give you your voting id and password right away is they must do some kind of a vote screen/check to ensure you don't vote twice the way former Montreal City Councillor Frank Hanley used to encourage his supporters to do. Oh, for the good ole days.
Wilf Day
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March 21, 2012 - 12:03am
#9(permalink)
This #134 was opened first, and is longer than its imitator. Someone please close the other one.
NorthReport
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March 21, 2012 - 2:05am
#15(permalink)
I have a lot of respect for Carol but I think she has it wrong. I think the race will eventually boil down to should we work with the Liberals to bring down Harper, or go it alone, and although the idea of working together has a lot of merit, I don't think the majority of NDPers are quite ready for that step. But NDP voters do want to grow the Orange Wave that happened in Quebec.
Orange wave in Quebec: NDP breakthrough or passing fancy?
"New Democrat insiders are 'almost shocked' at the state of NDP leadership Brian Topp's campaign as the party heads into its leadership vote this weekend..."
The history of establishment-assisted leadership contenders who are less politically adept and/or less popular than the runner-up they defeated is hardly a happy one. Think of John Turner, Kim Campbell or Stéphane Dion.
If a Broadbent-led anybody-but-Mulcair movement determines the outcome of next week’s vote, owing victory to a threatened establishment won’t do much to bolster the winner’s moral authority. That will be particularly true in Quebec, where not a single independent observer buys Broadbent’s analysis that Mulcair was the beneficiary of a stroke of central command genius, 50 years in the making, rather than a major protagonist of the NDP’s surge in the province.
Repeating over and over again that Mulcair is not the prime NDP figure in Quebec and a central piece of its electoral future will not make it true. The same approach certainly did not work for Liberals at the time of Denis Coderre’s 2009 resignation as Michael Ignatieff’s Quebec lieutenant.
Even at their peak, the leadership wars of the federal Liberals and the Conservatives have not featured retired or retiring leaders stepping in front of the parade at the 11th hour to stab the leading contender in the front.
In 1990, Pierre Trudeau had no time for pro-Meech candidates such as Paul Martin but the former prime minister did not need to spell that out. He let their deep policy differences speak for themselves.
But then Broadbent did not really have the luxury to stay above the fray and fight his battle on the field of principles. Over the course of a series of media interviews last week, the former NDP leader could not come up with a single major policy transgression to sustain his blanket condemnation of Mulcair.
The dual task of keeping Quebec in the fold and the NDP together was always going to be a major challenge for Layton’s successor. Broadbent has just made that task more daunting for whoever is chosen on Saturday.
NorthReport
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March 21, 2012 - 11:23am
#19(permalink)
DaveW
the usual social democrat
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March 21, 2012 - 11:32am
#20(permalink)
oh, N.R., I think in 1990 Trudeau made it plenty clear where he stood -- sitting with the pro-Chretien Meech killer Clyde Wells very visibly at the Liberal convention
Not sure what this is intended to accomplish, other than to perpetuate illusions that the other candidates actually favour a policy of justice for the Palestinian people. I wish I had heard that clearly from them.
I'm talking about deeds - taking stands publicly that matter.
For example, when the Bloc withdrew from the CPCCA in 2010, explaining their reasons as being that it was shutting out Arab voices and was unbalanced in its treatment of Israel, which NDP public figure said, "WTF are we still doing there?" It's well and good to recount stories about how Mulcair bullied Jack, or the caucus, or whatever... but what kind of progressive politician submits to bullying of that nature?
I knew Mulcair was a pro-Israel Zionist when I voted for him in 2007, 2008, and 2011. Was I wrong to do so (and believe me when I say that in 2011, I had to overcome months of reflection and conviction that I could never support him again, as I expressed in babble posts)?
I have no quibble with the IJV wanting to make Israel/Palestine the pivotal point of members deciding whom to support. But if that's the case, they should tell the whole truth about the other candidates - not one of whom has stood up for the Palestinian people in any tangible way, as far as I know. And I put more stock in what they did and said before the campaign started, rather than ambiguous answers to campaign questions.
Damn it. I see my plan to play the two threads against themselves in the hopes of fomenting an irreducible gap between those who view the NDP as a "national" party and those who view it as a "Canadian" one has been thwarted by consensus, respectful discourse and my only ally on this board, the sinister and insidious Rebecca West.
Fine, have your party unified under a common vision and goal.
This article pinpoints one of the biggest things I was looking for this race, and never seemed to get. I think it's fair to note that only Topp seems to understand what a message is. I hope that whether Topp wins or not, he maintains a big role in the party. We need thinkers like him.
Interesting to see some reports that only 40k members have voted thus far. Could be a wave of voters coming in online this weekend. In theory it could double the total vote count to 80k (which would be 60-70% voter turnout). But even short of that, there's the potential for tens of thousands of votes to come in. Which means that recent events still matter in shaping the race. For me personally, I'm interested to see what each candidate's "closing statement" is at the convention. I've done a lot of research, and the race will end in a last minute gut decision.
They obviously haven't read their own interview with him.
Not to mention that they are endorsing him. And not to mention, above all, that it's unlikely that they share many of those "cherished NDP values."
only 40k people have voted, very likely because a very large proportion of the membership has not yet received balloting packages. if we end up with only 50% turnout, more than just the people directly responsible should be removed, their bosses should go too.
ut there are also divisions within the NDP that have been created by a leadership race that suddenly turned more acrimonious in its final days. Ms. Turmel said caucus unity must be job No. 1.
“There’s always a danger when there’s change, when there’s a new vision, there will always be division, that has to be recognized,” Ms. Turmel said. “It will be up to the new leader in his or her message and in his or her approach to determine and to ensure that the caucus is a priority.”
Her departure from the party’s top job will leave more time to attend to riding issues, said the Quebec MP, who admits there are some aspects of the job that have been difficult.
“The stress a leader feels regarding the emotions, the physical stress, I won’t miss that. The stresses are everywhere, you guys are included,” she told reporters. “You always have to be one step ahead of the game, one step ahead of the news.”
They obviously haven't read their own interview with him.
Not to mention that they are endorsing him. And not to mention, above all, that it's unlikely that they share many of those "cherished NDP values."
Did you say that when they endorsed Jack in 2003 and the NDP in 2011?
At least some of the msp are getting parts of what is going on.
- from CTV
Quote:
Indeed, various camps privately admit the purported ideological divide among the candidates -- the allegedly more centrist Mulcair and Nathan Cullen versus the more traditionalist Topp, Nash and Paul Dewar -- have been exaggerated for the purposes of sharpening distinctions during the campaign. And they aren't likely to play as big a role in determining second choices as many pundits have suggested.
"This is not (a choice between) left-right, no matter what the pundits say," says a strategist with one camp. "This is all about who can win."
"They obviously haven't read their own interview with him. Not to mention that they are endorsing him. And not to mention, above all, that it's unlikely that they share many of those "cherished NDP values."
Exactly. See what Mulcair says in that interview about the contribution to Canadian politics made by the NDP since its founding:
"50 years of hectoring and finger-wagging and telling people what’s wrong with their decisions."
Earlier in the leadership campaign Mulcair promised to stand up to Big Labour and those who were "beholden" to it. That too undoubtedly endears Mulcair to members of the Star's editorial board.
The caustic, dismissive way in which Mulcair rubbishes the NDP is eerily reminiscent of Tony Blair, who was always more scathing in his criticisms of the Labour Party than he was of even the most execrable features of Thatcherism. Not for nothing did Blair win the support of Rupert Murdoch's News International, which loved "New Labour" as much as it reviled its predecessor.
I suspect more than 40,000 party members have voted. There are likely at least 20,000 additional votes already cast by mail that have either yet to reach federal office or have not been processed. These would have been mailed last week. This would take the total to 60,000 leaving 10,000 or so to vote in advance or on the 24th. A 60 per cent turnout would be normal for these races - BC had a 71 per cent turnout but they only had to pull 30,000 votes, not 132,000 or so. Alas, I would anticipate ballots arriving by mail post the 24th but there is nothing one can do about that. The gains of opening up this process to more than the 2000 people who attend conventions outweighs the problems. As an aside, I really don't know why people are waiting for 'final arguments' - the campaign has been going on for seven months!
I have reservations about Mulcair on Israel too (although it's only a minor factor in my decision to support someone else). But I found IJV's "Mulcair is indistinguishable from Harper" to be completely over the top. They're allowed to make their case. I just think they would have been far more persuasive if they left out the hyperbole, and weren't so misleading about the UN bid issue. There was a far more persuasive case to be found in the number of donors connected to that mercenary scheme. I also think they'd have persuaded more people outside their immediate influence if they focused on a few candidates were good on this issue, instead of a feeble 11th hour youtube video to stop Mulcair.
This is something i posted on the other thread #134. Can we agree to make this one the official one?
http://www.thomasmulcair.ca/site/2012/03/21/as-convention-draws-near-mulcair-picks-up-more-nova-scotia-support/?lang=en
6 more Nova Scotia MLAs for Tom. I think this brings him up to 12
The other thread is throwing me off because it's not even in the same section of the board.
There was already a #134? My apologies!
It should be in the right section if we're supposed to notice it. This is thus the definitive one.
Lock the other, its in the wrong spot. ;-)
it really is an interesting strategy of mulcair's to continue rolling out these fairly large groups of endorsements during convention week, it would seem to me that last week would have been the week to have done this. think about what we've seen from mulcair so far this week:
1) huge group of ontario endorsements
2) anti-scab legislation guarantee
3) 3.38 million fund to take on the cpc
4) huge group of nova scotia endorsements
clearly the campaign thought that it needed momentum going into the convention, but in terms of appeals to members, it seems to me that it would have been more sound to have dominated last week with these (and whatever else is coming) and played the bigger game for the ranked voting. then again, with how late the balloting packages seem to be coming in, and with the un-anticipated bitterness of the topp campaign's attacks, it could be that this strategy ends up working out for them. broadbent attacks - you have rafferty right in the trenches, more than a dozen solid endorsements, pat martin (we think) leaking to the hill times about topp's flailing campaign, some red meat for activists, etc.
Broadbent's last-minute endorsement of Jack Layton in 2003 seemed to have really helped him show momentum in the last days of that race; I suspect that Tom's campaign is attempting the same thing here.
This was posted in the other thread, but that was in the wrong section of the forum, so I don't think it counts.
From that link:
Mulcair is controlling the news cycle. By keeping the endorsements and announcements coming, he prevents the story from getting bogged down in petty bullshit. I have a certain amount of confidence in his ability as an organizer and a strategist. I just hope he understands the important role that members want to play. A lot of us feel an affinity towards the NDP not just because of what the top brass says, but how the top brass listens. The feeling that our participation matters. That's where a lot of excitement and enthusiasm comes from. We can't beat the media without that grassroots enthusiasm.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/mulcair-leading-ndp-leadership-r...
We're moving are we.
quizzical rabble-rouser Member: 25730 Joined: Dec 8 2011nope not going to get burned again by topic closing for length when i try posting a quote
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quizzical rabble-rouser Member: 25730 Joined: Dec 8 2011Includes this video. Starting @0:30 in:
"But I want to really leave it to the members. I really need to have a mandate given to me by New Democrats to say that they're willing to get out of the bunkers, shake hands on some agreements together and make sure that we don't have a Conservative government again ... It would have to be driven from the grassroots. If they're into it, then I'm into it. If they're not, then we'll do it the old traditional way ... The real sticking point with the Bloc is that their fundamental purpose is to destroy the country. So to work with them in such an intimate way would be harmful to my view of Canada. I mean, they individually and many of their voters are progressive . Many of their voters came to us in the last election. But if the primary reason that the party exists is to dissolve Canada, then I can't count on sitting down with them for something like this."
... And that's all I need to know about Mr. Cullen.
kinda thought that way at first myself then i thought about contextual meaning
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quizzical rabble-rouser Member: 25730 Joined: Dec 8 2011t'anks for the link duncan cameron in the last topic thread, i understand she was to say more on this from that opening document but io haven't heard anymore about it and what i see there does not go far enough for me in creating a manufacturing sector based upon our natural resources.
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NorthReport is relaxing rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16337 Joined: Jul 6 2008 March 20, 2012 - 5:47pm #3 (permalink)That was my impression as well q
NorthReport is relaxing rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16337 Joined: Jul 6 2008 March 20, 2012 - 5:53pm #4 (permalink)
Every pronouncement now coming from Topp's campaign seems to be one of desperation.
NDPers don't want the status quo, they want to move forward and win the next election.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/jack-laytons-mother-calls-on-ndp...
Life, the unive... rabble-rouser-machine Member: 14982 Joined: Mar 23 2007
I might even vote for Topp in my top tier, but ICK That's just wrong on every level.
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flight from kamakura rabble-rouser Member: 14562 Joined: Nov 24 2006this thread is in the wrong section, could someone please move it?
anyway, i finally have to agree north report: dredging up layton's mother just seems desperate. i mean, this is it, the final 3 days, so go for anything you can, but still, this is something else. everything seems to be oriented toward smothering media mentions of nash and dewar by drawing the media into a topp vs mulcair frame. my guess is actually that it works better than we think it might, especially since the central office's screw-up on ballot packages means that many folks will be voting very close to convention (if at all, grrr).
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KenS stasis status static rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 2174 Joined: Aug 6 2001As to vetting.
You should see the vetting form that MP candidates have to fill out. We know that some stuff appears later, but it tends to be not top tier candidates and/or things it is hard to ask about.
And there is a vetting process for the leadership candidates. I dont know what the questions look like, but you can bet they are thorough, and are checked out... plus looking for things that candidates might 'forget'. At a bare mnimum things like debts, business connections, arrests, etc are all in there.
Here's an example, even a number of Dippers outside of Nova Scotia know of Robert Chisholm's 18 year old drunk driving convictuion that bit us hard at the end of a campaign. He disclosed that long before the campaign. It was known.
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NorthReport is relaxing rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16337 Joined: Jul 6 2008 March 20, 2012 - 8:17pm #8 (permalink)I'm sure one of the reasons they can't give you your voting id and password right away is they must do some kind of a vote screen/check to ensure you don't vote twice the way former Montreal City Councillor Frank Hanley used to encourage his supporters to do. Oh, for the good ole days.
Wilf Day is happy with his status. rabble-rouser-supreme Member: 4276 Joined: Oct 31 2002
This #134 was opened first, and is longer than its imitator. Someone please close the other one.
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Unionist mostly harmless \,,/ rabble-rouser-l33t \,,/ Member: 12323 Joined: Dec 11 2005Long live "NDP leadership race #134"!
Down with "NDP Leadership Race #134"!
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Catchfire the porches of my ear moderator Member: 5019 Joined: Apr 16 2003That's what this leadership race needs! A good splinter movement!
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socialdemocrati... peacekeeping rabble-rouser Member: 25915 Joined: Jan 10 2012will the real 134 please stand up?
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NorthReport is relaxing rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16337 Joined: Jul 6 2008 March 21, 2012 - 1:39am #13 (permalink)NDP Leadership: A guide to the race to replace Jack Layton
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1149418--ndp-leaders...
flight from kamakura rabble-rouser Member: 14562 Joined: Nov 24 2006
this thread is in the wrong section, it's too much work to change sections, ergo, this thread is irrelevant.
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NorthReport is relaxing rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16337 Joined: Jul 6 2008 March 21, 2012 - 2:05am #15 (permalink)
I have a lot of respect for Carol but I think she has it wrong. I think the race will eventually boil down to should we work with the Liberals to bring down Harper, or go it alone, and although the idea of working together has a lot of merit, I don't think the majority of NDPers are quite ready for that step. But NDP voters do want to grow the Orange Wave that happened in Quebec.
Orange wave in Quebec: NDP breakthrough or passing fancy?http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/1149445--orange-...
NorthReport is relaxing rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16337 Joined: Jul 6 2008 March 21, 2012 - 2:55am #16 (permalink)
Sweet!
In Harper decade, a big jump left
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/03/20/in-harper-decade-a-big-jump-left
NDPP what a planet... rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16891 Joined: Dec 28 2008
Topp's NDP Leadership Campaign 'Not Nearly As Well Organized' As Mulcair's Says NDP Insider
http://www.hilltimes.com/news/politics/2012/03/20/topps-ndp-leadership-c...
"New Democrat insiders are 'almost shocked' at the state of NDP leadership Brian Topp's campaign as the party heads into its leadership vote this weekend..."
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NorthReport is relaxing rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16337 Joined: Jul 6 2008 March 21, 2012 - 11:12am #18 (permalink)Thank you Mr Topp. Talk about a scorched earth policy against one of our own. How stupid can some people be
Broadbent poisons well for next NDP leader
http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/75902-broadbent-poisons-well-next-n...
The history of establishment-assisted leadership contenders who are less politically adept and/or less popular than the runner-up they defeated is hardly a happy one. Think of John Turner, Kim Campbell or Stéphane Dion.
If a Broadbent-led anybody-but-Mulcair movement determines the outcome of next week’s vote, owing victory to a threatened establishment won’t do much to bolster the winner’s moral authority. That will be particularly true in Quebec, where not a single independent observer buys Broadbent’s analysis that Mulcair was the beneficiary of a stroke of central command genius, 50 years in the making, rather than a major protagonist of the NDP’s surge in the province.
Repeating over and over again that Mulcair is not the prime NDP figure in Quebec and a central piece of its electoral future will not make it true. The same approach certainly did not work for Liberals at the time of Denis Coderre’s 2009 resignation as Michael Ignatieff’s Quebec lieutenant.
Even at their peak, the leadership wars of the federal Liberals and the Conservatives have not featured retired or retiring leaders stepping in front of the parade at the 11th hour to stab the leading contender in the front.
In 1990, Pierre Trudeau had no time for pro-Meech candidates such as Paul Martin but the former prime minister did not need to spell that out. He let their deep policy differences speak for themselves.
But then Broadbent did not really have the luxury to stay above the fray and fight his battle on the field of principles. Over the course of a series of media interviews last week, the former NDP leader could not come up with a single major policy transgression to sustain his blanket condemnation of Mulcair.
The dual task of keeping Quebec in the fold and the NDP together was always going to be a major challenge for Layton’s successor. Broadbent has just made that task more daunting for whoever is chosen on Saturday.
NorthReport is relaxing rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16337 Joined: Jul 6 2008 March 21, 2012 - 11:23am #19 (permalink)
Even in PEI - sweet!
NDP spirits soar
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/News/Local/2012-03-21/article-2935113/NDP-s...
DaveW the usual social democrat rabble-rouser Member: 16877 Joined: Dec 24 2008
oh, N.R., I think in 1990 Trudeau made it plenty clear where he stood -- sitting with the pro-Chretien Meech killer Clyde Wells very visibly at the Liberal convention
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nicky is active rabble-rouser Member: 11066 Joined: Aug 3 2005http://www.thomasmulcair.ca/site/2012/03/21/as-convention-draws-near-mulcair-picks-up-more-nova-scotia-support/?lang=en
6 more Nova Scotia MLAs for Tom. I think this brings him up to 12
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NorthReport is relaxing rabble-rouser-for-life Member: 16337 Joined: Jul 6 2008 March 21, 2012 - 12:41pm #22 (permalink)What nonsense.
http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/03/21/mr-irrelevant-vs-mr-angry/
Hunky_Monkey rabble-rouser-machine Member: 7081 Joined: Jun 11 2004
http://www.thomasmulcair.ca/site/2012/03/21/as-convention-draws-near-mulcair-picks-up-more-nova-scotia-support/?lang=en
6 more Nova Scotia MLAs for Tom. I think this brings him up to 12
6 NS NDP cabinet ministers in total :)
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Rebecca West moderator Member: 2873 Joined: Nov 28 2001Let's move the rest of this conversation over here.
Not sure what this is intended to accomplish, other than to perpetuate illusions that the other candidates actually favour a policy of justice for the Palestinian people. I wish I had heard that clearly from them.
I'm talking about deeds - taking stands publicly that matter.
For example, when the Bloc withdrew from the CPCCA in 2010, explaining their reasons as being that it was shutting out Arab voices and was unbalanced in its treatment of Israel, which NDP public figure said, "WTF are we still doing there?" It's well and good to recount stories about how Mulcair bullied Jack, or the caucus, or whatever... but what kind of progressive politician submits to bullying of that nature?
I knew Mulcair was a pro-Israel Zionist when I voted for him in 2007, 2008, and 2011. Was I wrong to do so (and believe me when I say that in 2011, I had to overcome months of reflection and conviction that I could never support him again, as I expressed in babble posts)?
I have no quibble with the IJV wanting to make Israel/Palestine the pivotal point of members deciding whom to support. But if that's the case, they should tell the whole truth about the other candidates - not one of whom has stood up for the Palestinian people in any tangible way, as far as I know. And I put more stock in what they did and said before the campaign started, rather than ambiguous answers to campaign questions.
Damn it. I see my plan to play the two threads against themselves in the hopes of fomenting an irreducible gap between those who view the NDP as a "national" party and those who view it as a "Canadian" one has been thwarted by consensus, respectful discourse and my only ally on this board, the sinister and insidious Rebecca West.
Fine, have your party unified under a common vision and goal.
You're right Unionist - no one wants to touch this issue.
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialboard/article/1149777--would-mul...
This article pinpoints one of the biggest things I was looking for this race, and never seemed to get. I think it's fair to note that only Topp seems to understand what a message is. I hope that whether Topp wins or not, he maintains a big role in the party. We need thinkers like him.
I was afrayed our preferred thread might be clothed.
Interesting to see some reports that only 40k members have voted thus far. Could be a wave of voters coming in online this weekend. In theory it could double the total vote count to 80k (which would be 60-70% voter turnout). But even short of that, there's the potential for tens of thousands of votes to come in. Which means that recent events still matter in shaping the race. For me personally, I'm interested to see what each candidate's "closing statement" is at the convention. I've done a lot of research, and the race will end in a last minute gut decision.
It ain't over yet.
Whatever you say Josh!
only 40k people have voted, very likely because a very large proportion of the membership has not yet received balloting packages. if we end up with only 50% turnout, more than just the people directly responsible should be removed, their bosses should go too.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/we-proved-t...
ut there are also divisions within the NDP that have been created by a leadership race that suddenly turned more acrimonious in its final days. Ms. Turmel said caucus unity must be job No. 1.
“There’s always a danger when there’s change, when there’s a new vision, there will always be division, that has to be recognized,” Ms. Turmel said. “It will be up to the new leader in his or her message and in his or her approach to determine and to ensure that the caucus is a priority.”
Her departure from the party’s top job will leave more time to attend to riding issues, said the Quebec MP, who admits there are some aspects of the job that have been difficult.
“The stress a leader feels regarding the emotions, the physical stress, I won’t miss that. The stresses are everywhere, you guys are included,” she told reporters. “You always have to be one step ahead of the game, one step ahead of the news.”
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Niki+Ashton+support+leadership+race/63...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/jeffrey-simpson/who-can-rec...
At least some of the msp are getting parts of what is going on.
- from CTV
"They obviously haven't read their own interview with him. Not to mention that they are endorsing him. And not to mention, above all, that it's unlikely that they share many of those "cherished NDP values."
Exactly. See what Mulcair says in that interview about the contribution to Canadian politics made by the NDP since its founding:
"50 years of hectoring and finger-wagging and telling people what’s wrong with their decisions."
Earlier in the leadership campaign Mulcair promised to stand up to Big Labour and those who were "beholden" to it. That too undoubtedly endears Mulcair to members of the Star's editorial board.
The caustic, dismissive way in which Mulcair rubbishes the NDP is eerily reminiscent of Tony Blair, who was always more scathing in his criticisms of the Labour Party than he was of even the most execrable features of Thatcherism. Not for nothing did Blair win the support of Rupert Murdoch's News International, which loved "New Labour" as much as it reviled its predecessor.