I tend to think that the NDP's problems go deeper than historic shifts. Thinking back 30 years ago, among my peers (say my scout troop I was involved in as a teen) with one exception there wasn't a conservative in the bunch. Few of them would line up to the modern understanding of a New Democrat today. There was and is something socially wrong in the NDP. I feel like they ran eccentric single men in family neighbourhoods, old social gospel preachers in new young areas, socialists in heavily Catholic areas, and union bosses who couldn't lead their members. A number of those people were real bastards too. Ticking boxes that made one a good New Democrat was often more important than picking people who were good members of the community. Quite a few of the current crop of MLAs are career politicians or children of activists. Not relatable to average people.Is "eccentric single men" meant to be a euphemism for openly gay men there?
I took Leftfield's post to mean that the Saskatchewan NDP doesn't really have the pulse on the public mood or the demographic makeup of the province, and as a result tends to select candidates that are not particularly well suited to the individual ridings.
Yep. As far as I know, the guy I was thinking of is straight.