The plummeting poll numbers for Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals might not seem as dire if Canada had adopted a new voting system.
The plummeting poll numbers for Justin Trudeau and the federal Liberals might not seem as dire if Canada had adopted a new voting system.
You’re mistaken in thinking the Liberals, or the NDP for that matter, care about advancing causes. They don’t. They care about getting elected.
They aren’t interested in teaming up because that puts policy ahead of party, and the apparatchiks in both parties don’t want that. Especially the Liberals: they’d rather go down in flames than risk losing political leverage by forming a coalition. They saw, quite clearly, what happened to the Progressive Conservatives when they merged with Reform.
As a registered member of one of those parties, I actually do. However, when it comes to the politicians, you’re either partly or completely right. Getting elected butters their bread, caring about the issues is optional, although at least some do as a hobby.
As for professional staffers, I don’t have as much experience. Mostly they just seem very busy when I interact with them.
I mean, the Liberals have been in a not-technically-a-coalition with the NDP for some time now. Some of them don’t seem to like it (of course, having all the power would be better for them personally), but from the outside it seems to be going well.
They continued being a highly relevant political party?
Psst. When you’re done “both sides” -ing the issue, I bet you can find one of the two that is better than the other and cares more about Canadian happiness.
Vote for them. Then it’s a win for them (election)and a win for us (least-worse party in power). If everyone did that, there’d be no blue left.
You see how your both-sides assertion isn’t even relevant?
I do that. I do vote NDP. Every election except 2015, when I voted Liberal on the electoral-reform promise. Shame on me.
What I won’t say that I’m happy doing it, and it doesn’t mean I don’t get to criticize the NDP for putting party ahead of the electorate. I said it about Layton teaming up with Harper, I said it about Mulcair getting flanked by Trudeau, and I’ll say it about Singh’s unwillingness to really step up and own the socialist label.
It’s not “both sides’ing” when you wish your team did better.
My riding would still be very, very blue.
At this point the main difference between Liberals and NDP is style, as far as I’m concerned. I’d vote for either, or the Greens if that ever came up.