When Saskatchewan’s NDP leadership race started, one of the most important questions for all of the candidates was the level of organization Ryan Meili would bring to the campaign: whether he’d build significantly from what had been a growing base by the end of the 2009 race, or largely start
Continue readingTag: strategy
Accidental Deliberations: On ranges of options
There are surely worse offenders to point out in the bevy of recaps and previews we inevitably see at year’s end. But I’ll pick on Paul Wells’ latest as an example of a well-regarded observer making obvious missteps in trying to limit the scope of possibilities we should consider: The
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Crawford Kilian comments on Chrystia Freeland’s Plutocrats as a useful expression of trends many of us have seen in action for some time: (T)he plutonomy is not just booming, but skewing the still-depressed economy the rest of us live in. Many of the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On open invitations
Jon Worth’s post on the distinction between partisan politics (as generally understood) and movement-based activism is well worth a read, particularly in pointing out how the latter may better express what people actually want to see out of politics: Since first reading Mary Kaldor’s piece at the LSE EUROPP blog
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that to start the new year. – Lynn Stuart Parramore discusses the dangers of needless means-testing for basic social benefits: When I spoke to Joseph Stiglitz, he discussed the idea that “means-testing is mean.” Programs like Medicare and Social Security, he explained, are matters of political economy. They
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Ed Broadbent responds to the Fraser Institute’s attempts to minimize the importance of growing inequality: Economists tell us the chances of finding and keeping a good job today depend more than ever on a high level of education and skills required by
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Morning Links
Assorted content for your Saturday reading. – Kate Heartfield worries that the NRA knows exactly what it’s doing with its jaw-dropping response to the Newtown shootings – and that it should be all too familiar based on the tactics of the Harper Cons: It’s ridiculous, but ridiculous works, time and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On alternatives
A couple of polls this week have been used as evidence that the Cons are largely in control of the federal political scene. But I’ll argue that while each suggests the limitations of a possible course of action, taken together they point to plenty of reason for hope over the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On needed advantages
Thanks in large part to an extremely active provincial leadership campaign, I haven’t discussed the evolution of the federal NDP over the past few months in as much detail as I’d like. But while there will be plenty more to talk about over the next little while, I’ll comment on
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: #skndpldr – Swift Current Debate Notes
As Scott has already noted, Saskatchewan NDP’s Swift Current leadership debate included plenty of familar themes: And indeed, one of the more interesting issues facing both the candidates and the debate organizers is how to account for the difference between an audience which may be seeing the candidates for the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: #skndpldr Roundup
Once again, Saskatchewan’s NDP leadership campaign has focused largely on recent debates and other candidate forums (and I’ll be discussing those individually as I get a chance to view them). And for those interested in immediate coverage of those, Tra…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On sad traditions
I haven’t commented much on the latest out of the federal Libs’ camp. But I’ll quickly expand on the similarities noted by Paul Wells between Justin Trudeau and some of his predecessors – who did so much to alienate progressive Canadians during their s…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2013 Roundup
With a couple of weeks’ worth of developments to address, I’ll take a slightly higher-level look at the Saskatchewan NDP leadership race than I normally do. (And for those worried about missing out, note that we should have an opportunity to revisit ne…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Saturday Afternoon Links
Miscellaneous material to end your Saturday. – Jim Stanford looks in detail at the aftereffects of free trade with the U.S., and finds rather little to cheer: In sum, the promise that free trade would induce more trade, productivity growth, and higher incomes (following traditional Heckscher-Ohlin mechanisms) is not remotely
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On honest appraisals
For all the concerns about the Cons paying absolutely no political price for their constant dishonesty, the NDP working to change that assumption: So how effective does the new ad look to be, particularly compared to past efforts to develop the theme that the Cons can’t be trusted? Well, the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On healthy choices
It looks like the federal NDP is starting to highlight some of its priorities as an alternative government in order to better frame Canada’s political debate. And while its first offering on health care includes some relatively low-hanging fruit (it’s truly sad that “not gratuitously boosting drug costs by billions”
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On diverging paths
Earlier this morning, I noted that the NDP is developing on a promising line of economic messaging – highlighting the Cons’ determination to place the interests of the wealthy and privileged over those of mere working Canadians. And I’d expect that principle to factor into the NDP’s foreign policy as
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: The big lie and the bigger truth
Yes, it’s inevitable that Tom Mulcair will have to answer the Cons’ (however farcical) talking points about some nonexistent carbon tax. But there’s more to the story than the “big lie” currently being pointed out by Mulcair – and the best way to turn the issue back around on the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: New column day
Here, on the importance of substance over spin in politics – and the counterproductive effect of dedicating a party’s resources to the opposite effect. For further reading…– As I’ve previously noted, the observations of Allan Gregg and Winslow Wheeler are here and here respectively.– Joe Klein discussed the impact of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On timelines
For the most part, I tend to be skeptical that annual caucus retreats should be seen as having any substantive impact on the political scene. But the NDP’s meeting last week in St. John’s did provide some noteworthy news in the form of Tom Mulcair’s election readiness timeline: NDP Leader
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