NDP Explains Its Love Affair with Harper

[Bragi]

Greg Weston has a column today explaining why it is that the NDP spends its time attacking Liberals rather than attacking Harper. Given the quotes from the anonymous NDP officials, one can only hope that the venal partisanship of the NDP will be remembered by anti-Harper voters next time at the polls.

"We are firmly focused on a mission to do what is best for Canada and for all Canadians," an NDP strategist says wryly. "That would be to take advantage of the current vulnerability (of the Grits) to achieve the marginalization and, with luck, eradication of the Liberal party."

As a result, the Dipster said, "we are not going to do anything that would give the Liberals a chance to score points, even if that means maybe pulling some punches with the Conservative government."

All of which helps to explain what has become an unlikely loopy love-in of late between the NDP and Conservatives.

For the entire past week, the daily donnybrook in the Commons has been dominated by allegations that in 2005, the Conservatives tried to "bribe" a dying Independent MP, Chuck Cadman, to help vote the former Liberal government out of office.

With both Harper's integrity and Conservative party ethics on the ropes, Layton and the NDP were noticeably absent from the ring.

The Dips even went so far as to join the Conservatives in blocking the Commons ethics committee from investigating the Cadman affair.

An NDP adviser explained: "Damaging Harper and the Conservatives on ethical issues like the Cadman mess mainly helps the Grits, and that's not in our gameplan."


<http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Weston_Greg/2008/03/09/4952331-sun.php>

[Spazito]

1. I have to agree with one thing the article says....

Things have been truly bizarre. Layton playing kissy-face with harper instead of holding his feet to the fire for the Canadian people is no surprise. He has been doing that from before the last election and the reasons have been very clear. Dion has shown NO spine, has threatened to bring harper down three times now and has backed down every time.

I despise Layton more and more every day. He is the worst thing to happen to the NDP for as long as I can remember.

Dion needs to be replaced by someone with an actual spine, imo. The Liberals are looking weak, very weak. They need to have a leader that will nail both harper and Layton for their lack of ethics.

[Ravachol]

2. Or Layton could be replaced as well?

I mean, as a progressive, the NDP is much more closed than the Libs to my positions. I'm not saying the Libs are a right-wing formation. But on many economical issues, they get it wrong. They would still be to the left of the Democratic party and a huge progress, in comparison to Harper and the Cons.

[Spazito]

4. I would love to see Layton gone and the NDP party going back

to it's roots. Principle over political expediency.

[daleo]

3. The NDP has a real problem

In many ways, I don't care for the U.S. style two party system, but I think Canada may be headed that way. Losing elections to the Conservatives due to vote splitting on the centre-left will create a powerful impetus for merging of the Liberals and NDP. The Greens may also displace the NDP as the party of people who are politically engaged, but not able to come to compromise sufficiently to vote for the mainstream parties.

The NDP's big hope is to supplant the Liberals, the way that Labour supplanted the Liberals in Britain, 100 years ago. But I am not sure that a Tony Blair style NDP would be an improvement on Liberal Party of Canada.