In Defence of Elizabeth May's Choice of Ridings

Caissa's answer is the relevant one.

But what an appaling extended whine.

Can't help myself, I feel a need to reply to the 'substance,' such as it is, of the whining.

AppalledBC wrote:

Several pundits, friends, members of the Green Party itself, even Brian Mulroney have questioned Elizabeth May's choice of ridings in which to run the last three times out: Central Nova in 2008 , the London North by-election in 2006, and of course in Saanich-Gulf Islands in this 2011 election. Many, but especially journalists, have questioned, too, her decision to concentrate on winning her seat in BC and doing what she can nationally rather than conducting a full-blown national campaign. Chantel Hebert, for example, said flatly, arrogantly, I would say, on the CBC the day May was excluded from the TV debates, that she wasn’t worth paying attention to because she wasn’t running a national campaign. Most of Big Media has pretty much followed Hebert's lead now that the debate story is no longer in the news. This is the politics of exclusion plain and simple, and now that the NDP are rising in the polls, no on in Big Media even mentions the Greens let alone Elizabeth May. All that matters is who might win the election and where might the other three contenders be positioned by it.

There is no 'lead' to follow in the national media ignoring May. They are not trying to do anything. The GPC made a choice to downplay the national campaign- the media is following up on that.

Duh.

The GPC got a shitload of publicity and sympathy for being excluded from the debates- more than if May had been there.

That gift of publicity was in the context of an unusually boring and predicatble campaign.

But that was suddenly over: Candians decided to not listen to pundits, and that they do care about the direction of the country. Surprised me to.

Whatever your political inclinations, that IS a hell of a story. So of course the sideshow of Elizabeth May drops off the radar.

You all made the choices first to let the GPC become the Elizabth May Show, then for her to withdraw from the national stage and concentrate on two different ridings far from the limelight. The consequences that followed from that are predicatble and predicted. As you know, there are plenty within the GPC who have argued that from the beginning.

And the choice of ridings- both for Central Nova, and then SGI instead of Guelph- is part of that predictability. She insisted on running in Nova Scotia. Then when she decides to get more serious- having blown a big wad on Central Nova regardless of not being serious about the campaign- and she insists on the party dedicatng everything, but refuses to reciprocate. Guelph was perfect, but that would require her making up with the local activists and Ontario Greens a general. No thanks, the Queen chose SGI, which was only better than the absolute stupid stubborn choice of Central Nova.

AppalledBC wrote:

The answer to the question of riding choice and her prioritizing campaigning in her own riding are quite simple when one remembers that May, above all, is all about integrity and believes strongly in citizen-driven government: principle, moral or otherwise, before politics. Democracy Watch has just reported, for example, that the Green Party of Canada has scored best on the issue of promised government ethics, a result that is no surprise to those of us who know May and her citizen-driven positions on all matters. May chose Central Nova in 2008 because that is where she lived at the time and Saanich-Islands in 2011 because that is where she lives now, not necessarily because these are ridings which she could win. That would be politics over principle: you run in the community in which you live to represent the people in your community. And she chose to run in the London North by-election because that was the only opportunity available for a possible seat in the Commons at the time, and as he leader of the Green Party she felt it was her moral duty to try for that seat in order to have the Green Party's voice heard in Parliament. With the next regular election, had she won London north, she would have run where she lives. And that motive is the same one that has led her to prioritize her own campaign in Saanich Islands.

What a stinking pile of obfuscation. In the first place, no one question her running in the LNC by-election. And having exceeded expectations and proved all the pundits wrong- the advice was to run there in the general. But whe'd have none of that. And saying she ran in Central Nova because she lived there is utter BS: she had lived in Ottawa for 20 years. And goofy of you to mix up the causal direction: she lives in SGI because she's running there, not vice versa. 

AppalledBC wrote:

Such integrity cannot be said necessarily of the other three mainline parties or leaders, who scored Fs in Democracy Watch's analysis. Even Jack Layton's NDP has not, surprisingly, pushed electoral reform or government ethics in the current election, and I suspect potential voters are embracing Layton not necessarily because of any particular policy or even Layton's personal appeal, but because it's a practical way for voters to coalesce a rejection of the two big mainline parties, the Harperites and the Liberals. The movement to the NDP would seem to be, then, both a backlash against those two parties and a let-try-something-different one, not a genuine endorsement of the NDP. May 2 is shaping up tobe a far more interesting day than anyone could have anticipated, especially if the NDP gains significant seats and Elizabeth May also gets elected. Will citizen-driven democracy finally get a chance in Parliament?

Hard to imagine you could drop an even stinkier pile than the last one.

Integrity you say.??? Thats why she lied and the brain trust played shell games trying to hide from Greens how much money was spent in Central Nova, and for how long it had been. No one knew, and it was never explicitly admitted... they just stopped lying and denying when they began talking about going eleswhere and spending lots more next time.

With this giant orange crush sweeping the nation I think Edith, the NDP candidate in Saanich Gulf Islands, who has lived in the area for 25 years and has roots in the riding, now has a very good chance of defeating Lunn so people should be voting for Edith and the NDP here.  Nobody knows who is in first place, second place, third place, or even fourth place, so people vote for the party that you believe in. And remember for every vote your party gets, your party receives money to help fight the next election.

One can hardly go wrong taking politicians at their word.

And by the way, Elizabeth May does nothing more than does Jack Layton to further the cause of PR.

I am not making a comparison on what is accomplished. That would not be fair, because the GPC does not get as much 'face time' exposure. But if you look at what eMe talks about when she has that face time, PR is not even close to being a top priority. Just like Layton and the NDP: when she has to make choices, she sticks to the themes and narratives that resonate with potential supporters... which is not PR. For that matter, every theme and narrative she in practice gives the highest prorities to is even more innocuous and fell good than the stuff that Layton says.

Sextuple post! It may be a new record.

Lots of noise on Twitter right now...seems that the Globe (and others?) are calling SGI for Elizabeth May!?

Yes, congratulations EM. A deserved seat.

Her presence is bound to make some difference in Parliament. But as to the Green Party, it was already in crisis over being the de facto Elizabeth May Party.

Winning the gamble was better than losing. But people are going to quickly find out it is not even close to the panacea and deliverance they expected. Different crisis to work out of than if she had lost.

My maiden speech -- hello!

I just had to disappoint a European Green elsewhere on the internet, who had issued a warm welcome to May as an elected fellow eco-socialist.

That's ego-capitalist, of course, the Green Party in Canada being an official organ of Elizabeth May's body.

I know, I should be on the stage. But I thought I'd warm up here. ;)