It IS simplistic because we know from past "mergers" that 1+1 never equals 2. A lot of people who voted green were Liberals who didn't like Dion, they will happily go back to where they came from now that Dion is out of the picture. Some were Tories who weren't crazy about Harper. Some were people who just wanted to register a protest vote by voting for a "non-party" if there is no green party on the ballot - they would vote Rhino. Then there are NDP voters who might think twice about voting for the "Green Democrats" if they think the party is now full f crackpots like Jim Harris and Elizabeth May!

The only thing the NDP would really gain would be having one less other party to worry about - and if there was no green party the NDP would never have to worry that raising the profile of environmental issues might also help the greens. But these are minor advantages.