What's the future for the NDP?

[Northern Light]

That's my experience as well. None of the NDPers I know voted Liberal last time around. If anything, many of my NDP friends seemed to be in a state of panic the week before the election and were all signing up for get-out-the-vote efforts. The entreaties on Facebook in support of people like Jennifer Hollett, Paul Dewar, Peggy Nash, etc. reached a fever pitch.

But the NDP base is not enough to win elections. As we saw, it's not even enough to hold onto downtown Toronto ridings. The base needs to convince Canadians of its views, and it failed.

But the base, and/or factions of it, can dictate the future of the party. Watch what's happening with Labour in the U.K.

It does need to be said that any party trying to achieve government will have to put some 'water in its wine'.

That said, appealing to your base, in some way, is important, not simply for the fact of motivating volunteers and turnout, but for the sense of 'authenticity' that it gives the broader voter.

The idea that you (as a a party) stand for something more than winning.

Finding that balance and the way to communicate it is not easy feat.

 

[Videodrome]

http://thestarphoenix.com/news/local-news/liberals-tories-close-to-tied-in-saskatchewan-poll-says

The NDP support base has collapsed in Saskatchewan.

 

[King of Kensington]

Charlie Angus is running for leader. I think he'd be very good in terms of appealing to traditional NDP supporters - he can appeal to working class people in the hinterland as well as urban progressives, and a strong link to FN communities.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/c...pected-to-announce-federal-ndp-leadership-bid

 

[King of Kensington]

One problem is that Charlie's French is apparently subpar, in spite of representing a riding that is about 30% Franco-Ontarian.

 

[Skeezix]

One problem is that Charlie's French is apparently subpar, in spite of representing a riding that is about 30% Franco-Ontarian.

For a party with 16 of its 44 seats in Quebec, that's a problem.

But otherwise I would agree that he is a good candidate on paper.

 

[christiesplits]

I think Charlie Angus and his folksy, populist personality would serve the NDP well. I'm not sure it would play well among the chattering classes of the Annex or Plateau - I expect Trudeau to keep the white collar, urban professional coalition in tact. But, I think there's an opening for the NDP in appealing to blue collar, working class votes, in the same way Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders appealed in their campaigns. Three years from now there could be many voters in inner suburbs, small cities and rural communities who feel that the 'new' economy - knowledge, creative and information driven - is leaving them behind, with a limited safety net to help.

 

[King of Kensington]

I think Charlie Angus and his folksy, populist personality would serve the NDP well. I'm not sure it would play well among the chattering classes of the Annex or Plateau - I expect Trudeau to keep the white collar, urban professional coalition in tact. But, I think there's an opening for the NDP in appealing to blue collar, working class votes, in the same way Jeremy Corbyn and Bernie Sanders appealed in their campaigns. Three years from now there could be many voters in inner suburbs, small cities and rural communities who feel that the 'new' economy - knowledge, creative and information driven - is leaving them behind, with a limited safety net to help.

Sanders did very well in the type of areas that are strong for the NDP (Parkdale-High Park, Davenport and Danforth ridings). Charlie has working class populist appeal but isn't tone deaf to the concerns of the urban progressive demographic like Andrea Horwath is.

 

[King of Kensington]

I'm thinking the NDP leadership race will include Peter Julian, Niki Ashton, Charlie Angus and Guy Caron. Surprised Nathan Cullen has decided not to run. Jagmeet Singh is also mentioned, but federally would be a harder slog than provincially, since he'd be without a seat.

 

[Videodrome]

With Trudeau approving the pipelines, I can see the NDP getting a boost.

 

[King of Kensington]

With Trudeau approving the pipelines, I can see the NDP getting a boost.

Or at least take the NDP off its deathbed.

 

[christiesplits]

Brampton MPP Jagmeet Singh looking more and more likely to jump into the race.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/jagmeet-singh-ndp-leadership-profile-1.3982662

 

[King of Kensington]

Charlie Angus had his launch at the Horseshoe yesterday.

Also, finance critic Guy Caron is running as well and is proposing a guaranteed income.

 

[christiesplits]

I frequent the Babble forum on Rabble.ca, a left wing politics forum that is unabashedly pro-NDP. There seems to be a consensus that Jagmeet Singh is the "party establishment" choice for leadership, irking some of the more far-left party base.

http://rabble.ca/babble/canadian-politics/ndp-leadership-race-3?page=10

 

[Skeezix]

There has been a lot of discussion in the media about the fight for the heart and soul of the Conservative Party, whether it will stick to Harper's pragmatic approach (seeking to make it the natural governing party), or lean towards the base instincts of some of its members, or embrace its libertarian side, or go for celebrity populism.

We haven't been hearing a lot about the NDP, but a big fight over its heart and soul is likely to be coming too. Possibly more intense, since the NDP's provincial wings are an integral part of the party (unlike the Conservatives, where there is crossover certainly, but the federal party is separate and distinct from its various provincial cousins).

 

[WislaHD]

If Singth irks the far-left base, then I hope he is the one who wins the leadership.