|
I believe the NDP are going to go through some big changes. In, effectively, a 2 party system, they need to claim the space that is center-left. That needs to be theirs. If they need to push the liberals right to take it, so be it.
If you walk away from this election thinking that the NDP need to tweak their game plan, as opposed to throwing it away, then they will never take more than 35-40 seats, and always sit in second place.
-Get rid of anyone that had anything to do with the NDP in the 90's. Gone.
-Make sure that the hardcore lefties keep their damned mouths shut. Just as scary as the religious righties.
-Their theme should be something in the lines of "Economic Growth with a Conscience" or something to that effect. People do NOT believe they can run the economy. They really proved that this election. I'm telling you, their numbers were bullshit.
-Gotta get game. Mobilizing people should be as instinctive to the NDP as the Liberals in a business oriented fund-raiser. Not to leave the unions behind, but put the people first. Get people going door to door. Know who you are looking for! There should be TEAMS and HOARDES of people going up and down the streets of the working class neighborhoods. We need you! Every vote counts. We don't want to just win, we want to blow them away!
-Choose an every man leader with some charm. Jack Layton kicked ass last federal election. Why? Well, I don't like NDP policy, but I liked Jack Layton. He didn't seem like a politician to me. He actually bled orange. He believed it. I didn't always like what he believed, but I respected that he was genuine about what HE believed.
Ironically, the federal NDP are going to have the same problem. They are expecting to form the next government, but I suspect they are going to go back to their 40-45 seats in 2015. You watch, they'll have the same sense of hubris. Everyone that couldn't go with the liberals, will feel free to go home with Trudeau.
|