NDP Leadership #145

I'm finally ready to make predictions on the race.

So here is my take on what happened:

The race was actually a contest between 2 sections of the party elite, with Topp representing more of the union/old guard wing, and Mulcair representing the Blairite wing. Despite what he may have led people to believe, Topp is not a strong advocate of the party's left-wing. He served under Roy Romanow, one of the most openly Blairite NDP governments Canada has ever elected. The grassroots candidates could not muster the resources to be major contenders, as seen by the fact that Charlie Angus and Megan Leslie didn't even run despite encouragement to do so, the fact that Niki Ashton actually received fewer votes than Martin Singh even though Singh didn't even run a real campaign, and the fact that candidates like Paul Dewar and Nathan Cullen didn't even make it to the final ballot. How else could Brian Topp have done so well, with the party recently electing a record number of seats and Topp not holding one himself, unless Topp had some serious backing from the party establishment? He very clearly played to the core left-wing ideas of the NDP base, and probably would have won if he didn't have a seat.

As for Mulcair? Despite the strong numbers he posted in the end, this is actually a stern rebuke. It took him four ballots to win, which suggests that people aren't so enthusiastic again. He made the mistake of accepting the media's narrative that he was the front-runner and heir apparent, and acted accordingly. While he worked very hard to win new NDP voters in Quebec, he basically took it for granted that the NDP base was going to support him no matter what. He did not show that he really got the NDP culture, and at times came across as being opposed, for example, his remarks about "union bosses." He never clarified what he meant by "modernizing" the party, even though he should have known that that kind of talk sets off alarm bells about shifting the NDP rightward, whether or not that was Mulcair's intent. His comments about "doing things differently" came across as insulting. They would have carried weight if the pattern for NDP seat numbers was either stagnant or in decline, but the NDP seat count increased in every election in the past decade, so what did the party need to do differently now? If he had taken more effort to reassure the NDP base, and even talk to them and show that he was going to listen to their concerns and not take them for granted, the vote may not have dragged on as long, in fact he could very easliy have won on the first ballot.

What can I say? I always said unity would win the day.

None of the candidates endorsed "not Mulcair".

Topp came together with Mulcair after the race.

Keeping Libby on was a classy move.

New Democrats are fundamentally INCAPABLE of agreeing on anything. But we CAN stay unified, in spite of that.

I'm reminded of George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia", where he noted the "revolutionary discipline" of the irregular forces. No one was giving them orders, but they knew who their friends were, and who their enemies were, and what needed to be done.

Let's all do our part to make the NDP the most successful its ever been. That doesn't mean no criticism. It only means that criticism comes from a place of trust, that there's room for differing views on how to make for a more fair, more equal, and more participatory society.

Brachina

On Facebook I'm discussing going drinking with the under-5-year-old kids of two of my friends. 

I'll take the banning, I need the rest.

Keeping Libby on was a classy move.