Tuesday, May 07, 2019
A Green Wave? No, But Possibly a Green Ripple.
It was just a by-election. Even if the governing party had an outside chance (it didn't, the Liberal brand out here rarely is competitive) voters "punish" the part in power in by-elections or so goes the claim.
This is generally reliable NDP territory. Up my way the Conservatives dominated for a while but this riding is also now held by the New Dems.
So perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that the Liberals came a dismal fourth in a seven candidate field.
It's hard to tell whether yesterday's release of the UN report on the looming biodiversity crisis had much impact on the voting but it couldn't have helped the mainstream parties much.
Then there's Trudeau's pipeline. I would love to think the Liberals' drubbing reflected a bit of that discord.
In a blatant display of electoral cowardice the Trudeau government has been tossing around the idea of withholding its decision on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion until after the general election in October. Hmm, I wonder what that's all about? Duh. For that perfidy alone the Liberals should be driven out of every riding in British Columbia.
Sorry, Grits, but your guy had his chance. We even fawned over him when he went surfing at Tofino. Sooo dishy. Only he turned into a dud. He's such a pale shadow of the Trudeau we knew and liked and, even those that didn't like him, respected. Hard to respect this guy with his patronizing speeches delivered in school marm style.
As for the NDP, well Jagmeet did chum the waters for his party's candidate. Even Maxime had his PPC lawn signs everywhere, often eclipsing all the other parties'. Far right lunacy doesn't sell too well out here.
What does this mean for my party, the Greens? It's a morale booster, for sure. It draws attention to the Greens as an alternative to what I call the "old school" parties and inspires hope for much greater gains in October. Too many still think of the Greens as a single-issue movement, a predictable lie spun by party hacks all too well steeped in prevarication.
For me, and I suspect plenty of others, that whole "strategic voting" ploy is over. Don't tell me that a vote for the Greens is a vote for Scheer. No it's a vote for the Greens. Slag the Greens as much as you like but look at yourself in the mirror first.
If Trudeau has half a brain he is now kicking himself over his opportunistic dumping of proportional representation. If the results weren't going to fuck us all over I'd be snickering. But at this point I expect FPTP to give us the most royal reaming it ever has, as the progressive vote splits and the worst federal Conservatives ever go up the middle to win with the lowest percentage a majority government has ever had.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteHe promised reform, PLG. He won a majority. He could have delivered but he reneged on his promise. Now Liberals are whinging that a vote for anyone but Justin is a vote for Scheer.
You're right, a Scheer majority never should have happened. Justin was supposed to see to that. He betrayed us all and his fans can pound salt as far as I'm concerned. The blame for this mess lies entirely at their feet.
Trudeau will be remembered as a lousy prime minister. If he'd only kept his election promises, even just the electoral reform promise, he would have been a success. He chose failure - for himself and for Canada.
Ayup. I am entirely of your opinion on this one.
ReplyDeleteStrategic voting works when sufficient numbers pay close attention to what the situation is in their specific districts and that always is a lot to ask. The Liberals will promote the approach in name only and then work to distract voters from the local numbers by focussing their campaigning at all levels on references to the national or provincial contest, which is generally between their party and the liber-cons. That's the way it works or doesn't work in Ontario.
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right. That scam may have run its course with a lot of voters who supported it in the past. Although there will a few surprises, I think it's still going to depend on what happens in the traditionally swing ridings.
The Liberals are certain that the NDP, and particularly Nathan Cullen, caused the failure of electoral reform. Cullen is a closet con, you know. Anyway, that’s their story. In any case, through its timidity and lack of focus on what it knows best, once again the NDP is making toast of itself. I look for a lot of their supporters who don’t pay sufficient attention to the local numbers to go Green and help to fulfill the prophecy in some instances. Among traditional Liberal or CRAP Party supporters you’ll find more unquestioning loyalty to the tribe.
Pet peeve:
ReplyDeleteI remember when it was called "tactical voting" (which it is); I never really noticed the moment when that disappeared and it started being called "strategic voting" (which it isn't). Strategy implies broad or long range planning; tactics is about scoring immediate victories. Voting in a riding for a candidate you don't really support in order to keep out somebody worse is a tactical action. Building up parties you genuinely do support or working to shift the "Overton Window" towards acceptance of policies you like and exclusion of ones you don't, are strategic actions.
So although I reluctantly accept that that's the term nowadays, really it's tactical voting and I sometimes wonder just who started the shift and what their agenda was.