NDP Leadership -round 8

Aristotleded24 wrote:

Ken Burch wrote:

I hope those who don't want Mulcair coalesce behind a left candidate soon.

The more he thinks his victory would be a coronation, the more confident Mulcair would be about the notion that he had a mandate to be rabidly anti-left and anti-internal democracy(I.e., "moderate")and the greater the danger would be that Mulcair would make an NDP victory meaningless by moving the party even further right.  It would be worth no one's effort to elect a federal government that was like the Manitoba NDP government, or Bob Rae's Ontario regime AFTER he surrendered to Bay Street-especially if Mulcair was to try to "out hawk the hawks" on foreign policy, as his natural inclinations would lead him to do.

To me, the logical choice of a anti-Mulcair coalition would be Saganash.  Saganash represents First Nations voters, francophones, the poor, the dispossessed, the outsiders and the idea of treating social movements and social activists with respect-Mulcair represents the suburbs, the uptight, and what the MSM wants the NDP to stand for...obedience and deference to the powers-that-be.  And Mulcair is the sort that would probably argue that electing an NDP government, on a platform dictated solely by him(i.e., a platform that would automatically stand for nothing)was the only valid form of politics and that movements and activists were just annoyances to be treated with scorn.  And who the hell would want an NDP leader that represents THAT?  Nothing could ever be worth having an NDP prime minister invoke the War Measures Act, or to sic the cops on protesters.

Saganash just seems real to me in a way that Mulcair doesn't.  Mulcair simply represents the establishment notion of what the NDP should limit itself to if it must be in contention for power...an agreement not to use government as a means to transform life, and an acceptance of the idea that politics should ONLY include the political elite itself.

In any case...whether you like Saganash or not...stop Mulcair(or Topp or Dewar)...it's the only way to make an NDP government matter.  Centrism equals irrelevance.

I would assume that those who are convinced that a Mulcair victory would unleash all sorts of evil on the world plan to [url=https://secure.ndp.ca/membership_e.php]take out an NDP membership[/url], have their say, and put their money where their mouths are and step up to the plate?

Make no mistake about it, I have expressed concerns about a Mulcair-led NDP many times. But seriously, this talk about Mulcair or about the Blairite monster hiding under the bed is starting to sound like a witch hunt. It's quite ridiculous. Yes, there are valid concerns about the direction of the NDP, but there are more constructive approaches. And I'm sure I will have my differences with many on these boards in the coming months, but disagreement is okay, I'm prepared to work with those disagreements and find common ground and solutions. How about the rest of you?

I certainly don't want the party to move to the right but can someone show me evidence that Mulcair is a centrist?

Ken Burch wrote:

His stance on the I/P issue is one example.  And yes, those that oppose or support ANY particular candidate should take out an NDP membership.

What stance is that?

Quote?

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2011/09/12/pol-ndp-brian-topp.html

I'm still searching for the precise quote of Mulcair I was thinking of, but unionist will remember it and it's come up in several threads here.  I have to leave town for a week for my work now(as I do every other week)but will continue searching for the quote in question.

I'm not dodging the issue, just haven't located the precise reference as of yet.

It is sad to see this kind of cannibalism aimed at Thomas Mulcair with so little factual basis. It is similar in tone (if not exactly ideology) to what I would expect from the Conservatives.

We can anticipate much anti-Mulcair propaganda from the mSM and the other parties, precisely because they perceive him as the candidate most likely to lift the NDP into power.

Must we endure it here on Babble as well?

It is sad to see this kind of cannibalism aimed at Thomas Mulcair with so little factual basis. It is similar in tone (if not exactly ideology) to what I would expect from the Conservatives.

We can anticipate much anti-Mulcair propaganda from the mSM and the other parties, precisely because they perceive him as the candidate most likely to lift the NDP into power.

Must we endure it here on Babble as well?

Cannibalism?  Jeez!!

I was opposing the guy as a possible party leader...I don't want to saute' him in a calvados reduction with a side of poutine!