Is the BC NDP Imploding?

[SFUVancouver]

I take issue with news media analysis that paints the recent highly publicized turn of events within the NDP as somehow having the cumulative effect of erroneously making the NDP appear to the public as if they are unprepared to form government due to fractures within the party. Independent of the Liberal's own meltdown there have been an unending series of crises coming out of the NDP camp. Whether it was the kicking out an MLA from caucus for telling the truth, revelations that the NDP are secretly backing the recall campaigns, secret payments from organized labour directly to the NDP party president, the unbelievable fascist yellow scarf intimidation tactic that outed Jenny Kwan and company, the showdown meeting with them that was cancelled at the last minute, and ultimately James' resignation announcement on Monday, all of these have not just been inconvenient PR faux-pas, it's reality laid bare for the public to see. Just because the NDP would rather these issues remain secret does not mean that the public is unaware that they are going on. The truth is that the public knows full well that the party has different camps within it and they don't always see eye to eye, plus polls have shown over and over that under James' leadership the voting public were not ready to have the NDP form government. The public has not been duped by the recent turn of events. Instead they've had their longstanding poll-identified opinions resoundingly confirmed.

It's a fascinating, liberating time for provincial politics in BC. Both parties will wipe the slate clean when they choose new leaders in the next couple of months and we'll have ourselves an energetic election that will hopefully be issue driven and be about characterizing what the next decade of politics from these two parties will look like. In an election like that both sides have a real shot at winning and it's anyone's guess who will be running the province a little over a year from now.

[Stingray2004]

Tommy Chong, of renowned Cheech and Chong "Up In Smoke" fame, has just endorsed Dana Larsen as the next BC NDP leader. I guess that celebrity endorsements can come in handy once in a while.

Now I'm waiting to hear who Cheech will endorse or for that matter Randy Quaid. Gotta love BC's entertaining politics.

Here's Tommy Chong's official endorsement:

• Video Link

And here's Cheech and Chong in one of their finest moments:

• Video Link

[Overground]

In a push to increase the number of female candidates, the federal Liberals under Jean Chrétien, and then later under Stéphane Dion, often overrode the democratic process and parachuted female candidates into ridings in which the local associations wanted to hold their own nomination contests. Other parties — right and left, federal and provincial — have debated quotas for candidates and party executives that would require that a certain number of candidates be women. But so far as we know, only the B.C. NDP has actually worked a gender allocation into its party constitution.

Predictably, this affirmative-action provision has come back to bite the NDP in its political buttocks. The resulting publicity has made the party appear ridiculous. And rightly so: Quotas of this type, by their very nature, are an affront to the meritocracy principle, and to democracy itself.

Last month, amid bitter infighting within her caucus and executive, B.C. NDP leader Carole James announced she would be resigning as soon as her party could choose a replacement. So far, only male candidates have stepped forward to express interest in replacing Ms. James. But thanks to an affirmative-action provision in the NDP’s operating rules, no man could replace Ms. James unless either the party president or the party treasurer (both men) resign beforehand. That’s because the party’s constitution specifies that a woman must occupy at least one of what are considered the top three party posts.

full article - http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/...em-ridiculous/

[whatnext]

Why doesn't Kamikaze Kwan run for the leadership? She's at least qualified in one thing - being a female. Unfortunately her brain dead antics have been driving female voters to the BC Libs in record numbers.

[whatnext]

I'd say the NDP implosion continues with the election of Adrian Dix as leader. The tired Far Left cliches and dogma continue to have a perverse fascination for the NDP rank and file apparently. Unless John Cummins' Conservative party steals a serious chunk of the BC Liberal vote (which I doubt) Christy's Liberals are bound to be re-elected.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by whatnext

I'd say the NDP implosion continues with the election of Adrian Dix as leader. The tired Far Left cliches and dogma continue to have a perverse fascination for the NDP rank and file apparently. Unless John Cummins' Conservative party steals a serious chunk of the BC Liberal vote (which I doubt) Christy's Liberals are bound to be re-elected.

Agree 100%. I'd go as far as to say that any right leaning conservative votes that go from Liberal to Conservative will be replaced my moderate left-centre votes that will be coming from NDP to Liberal.

The big labour socialists simply don't get it.

[flight_from_kamakura]

i don't know, we'll see how it plays out. dix is an extremely effective parliamentarian, he's tenacious, hyper-intelligent, and tireless. he also has a very fine sense of the whole politics thing: staking out the positions that he did got him the leadership; it would be very surprising if he didn't approach clark with a far more nuanced and popular vision of an ndp-led british columbia than some folks here predict. i doubt christie clark and her coterie will be underestimating the guy - they'll be try to nuke him whether they think he's capable or buffoonish - but i think he's someone who could, for instance, blow her away in a televised debate. at any rate, it'll be interesting to see how it unfolds. i'm still pretty surprised that it didn't go farnworth, still trying to figure that out.

[GMasterAres]

Going to be interesting. I used to vote NDP but have switched to Liberal in recent times. I was quite unhappy with the last Liberal government's handling of the province in a number of key areas (and happy with other areas) so was really looking to see if the NDP has come any further to the "smart wing" I like to call it.

I'm still not sold and if I hear another NDP spot about how Christy Clark is just the same party with a new face I'll puke since Adrian Dix is one of the key faces of the fast ferry scandal and it would and is just pot calling the kettle black.

*shrug* will be interesting.