So is the American political system completely dysfunctional. I suppose the easy answer is to say they elected Trump so case closed, but of course it is much more complicated than that. What advanced developed democracy cannot manage to keep it’s government functioning. The obvious answer should be “none” but
Continue readingTag: primaries
Alex's Blog: What Bernie Sanders Has Accomplished
Here is an op ed in the Star on what we might learn from the Bernie Sanders camPaign
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Nanos, Robocalls, and Super Tuesday
Sorry for my lack of posting the past three days – but I haven’t missed much anyways. The big thing I did miss was the recent Nanos Research poll, showing for the second time in a row, the Liberals in second place. The topline numbers (and changes from the last
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Ignatieff’s Liberals & Romney’s Republicans
The comparison between Canadian politics and American politics has been made more than once, the similarity of Liberal and Republican dominance in their respective countries during the last century is the most obvious. But in recent years Liberals and Republicans seem to be sharing more and more in common, Michael
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Both hope and fear drove Liberal delegates in Ottawa
Looking back on my three days in Ottawa for the 2012 Liberal Party of Canada biennial convention it’s impossible to craft one clear narrative – did delegates embrace bold change or put their faith in the status quo – because the evidence is highly contradictory. And that, I suppose, is
Continue readingA BCer in Toronto: Blogger debate video: BCer in Toronto vs. Calgary Grit on primaries
Well, it’s the eve of the 2012 Liberal Party of Canada biennial convention and one of the debates generating the most interest and discussion (besides the great #lpc12 vs #ott12 hashtag debate with threatens to tear our fragile party asunder) is the proposal to adopt a primary-style system (see 2,
Continue readingBlunt Objects: And so the Primaries Idea Goes Out With a Whimper
That makes me sad. I was looking forward to voting in the primaries-style system that was proposed before. Is is so wrong to move towards a system that, yes, is driven a lot by media attention, but is utterly more interesting than the races we have up here? There’s a
Continue readingThe Scott Ross: Why Canadians Want The Worst Politics Of America
Canadians would support our own political institutions if we didn’t idealize worse ones. The last few years have offered an incredible contrast in politics between what interests Canadians and what is best for Canadians. In looking at what has attracted support recently it is undeniably clear that pervasive American values
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Open Primaries – A Primer
With all the discussion and talk about the Liberal Party of Canada moving towards a primary system, and most of the talk being on the so-called “open primary” model, I thought it would be a good idea to quickly go over what exactly an open primary is…..
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Note on the eventual Toronto-Danforth by-election…
I agree with something posted awhile back by Globe and Mail columnist Robert Silver, that the upcoming by-election is a chance to do something different – specifically, the attempt at an “open primary” in the riding.The concept is simple: anyone puts t…
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