Last night the NDP chose a new leader Thomas Mulcair. Mulcair was the most reformist candidate that was on offer but he was also not the biggest party insider among the candidates. So in a sense he represents a tradeoff between striking out in bold new directions versus staying the course
Continue readingTag: thomas mulcair
Leftist Jab: Time To Rally Behind Thomas Mulcair And His Beard Of Courage
The New Democrats have a new leader. (h/t Jamie Masse) The future of social democrats has been chosen and it is a bearded one! Thomas Mulcair will lead the NDP as head of the Loyal Opposition. Despite some skepticism by New Democrats, I suspect the Outremont MP will win them
Continue readingBlunt Objects: Congratulations to Thomas Mulcair
Congrats to the New Leader of the NDP. An interesting note from your resident Teddy, now that Mulcair has won, each of the Federal leaders hasA – Been active in more than one political party (Rae and Mulcair in the Liberals and NDP, and Harper in Reform, the Alliance, and
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Thomas Mulcair Is The New NDP Leader
NDP members have elected Thomas Mulcair as the new NDP leader. It came down to a 4th ballot – between Thomas Mulcair and Brian Topp. On the 3rd ballot, Mulcair had 43.8%, Topp 31.6% and Cullen 24.6%. Throughout the convention, Mulcair steadily and strongly increased his support and endorsements. The
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 – Third Ballot Endorsement
The second-ballot results leave little room for doubt as to the ultimate conclusion of the NDP’s leadership campaign – with the main question now being whether there will be a fourth ballot to determine the party’s leader. And after two ballots of working on shaping the issues drawn from the
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 – First Ballot Endorsement
The NDP’s leadership campaign has presented such a wide variety of opportunities and questions for party members that it’s been difficult to decide who to endorse – and I’ve reached my own first-ballot decision only after taking time to see how those have been balanced out in this afternoon’s leadership
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Uniting Progressives? (#ndpldr)
I caught this sign being used by Thomas Mulcair supporters. It’s an interesting one because it fits with the narrative that Mulcair is attempting to broaden the NDP “big tent”.
Continue readingCalgaryGrit: Final NDP Power Rankings
The NDP crowns its next leader tomorrow, and the best we can do at this point is narrow the field down to 5 possible winners. That’s a far cry from September when the Brian Topp juggernaut was described as Martinesque. I made my “secret Liberal memo” endorsements earlier this month,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 – Policy Highlights
With the NDP’s leadership convention set to start tomorrow (and assorted hospitality suites already starting up tonight), I won’t be able to finish off my initial plan to put together full policy reviews for each of the candidates. But instead, I’ll take some time to highlight a few innovative ideas
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
I didn’t think much could come along at this point in the NDP’s leadership campaign to significantly change my voting considerations [edit: other than the type of organizational problem discussed here]. But the CROP poll published in Le Soleil may well do just that. No, it isn’t a surprise to
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Thomas Mulcair for NDP Leader
Years ago, when I joined the NDP to vote for Jack Layton, I did so because I saw a chance to elect an exceptional leader. I saw the chance to vote for someone who I knew had the ability to reach out to people who didn’t vote NDP and convince
Continue readingPop The Stack: For Once, I’m Glad I’m Not Voting
Democracy is the greatest sport on Earth. I feed on elections and leadership contests but I’m kind of glad I don’t have a vote this Saturday in the NDP leadership convention. Since I don’t have a vote I haven’t spent as much time researching all the leaders as I could
Continue readingPop The Stack: For Once, I’m Glad I’m Not Voting
Democracy is the greatest sport on Earth. I feed on elections and leadership contests but I’m kind of glad I don’t have a vote this Saturday in the NDP leadership convention. Since I don’t have a vote I haven’t spent as much time researching all the leaders as I could
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Most Logical Structure for NDP-LPC Cooperation
Those who favour a merger of the NDP and Liberal Party should not hold their breath. These two parties have values systems that are significantly different at the moment, and each brings to the table baggage which would make a hippopotamus choke. Harper united the right wing parties (with a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
Another day, another set of NDP leadership campaign stories. – Niki Ashton won the support of the NDP’s Socialist Caucus. – Nathan Cullen expanded on his joint nomination proposal with a far more appealing discussion of co-operation in general: Cullen isn’t shy about what he has in mind. “If the
Continue readingwRanter.com: Even with a new leader, the NDP can’t defeat the Tories alone
I just can’t get excited about the NDP leadership race, which ends March 24 in Toronto, because irrespective of who wins, it’s hard to see it leading to a positive outcome for progressive politics in this country. Will Thomas Mulcair, the party outsider who reportedly flirted with the Tories prior to
Continue readingThe Progressive Right: Initial Thoughts on NDP Leadership Convention (#ndpldr)
So, what do I think is going to happen at this weekend’s NDP leadership convention? I’ve been paying attention to the media articles, the debates, and the Twitter feed. It’s clear by all the folks talking about it – it’s Thomas Mulcair vs the other candidates. The underlying belief is that
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
A quick look at the latest news as the NDP’s leadership convention approaches. – Alice’s latest Power Play appearance saw her discuss Nathan Cullen’s campaign: Meanwhile, Cullen received an endorsement from Murray Dobbin – which is particularly noteworthy since Dobbin had previously lined up behind Peggy Nash. – Paul Dewar’s
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: My NDP leadership ballot rankings
Let’s just get it over with: Nathan Cullen Brian Topp Peggy Nash Paul Dewar Niki Ashton Thomas Mulcair Martin Singh These rankings are not necessarily who I think is best as the leader, but are for a variety of strategic reasons as written below. The major choices involved where I
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: democraticSPACE Supports Thomas Mulcair
Here is the post by democraticSPACE: [I’ve added emphasis in bold.] Seeing the extreme positions taken by Republican candidates in the U.S. gives us a clue as to the typical dynamic of leadership races –- first, having to win over a party’s base who are more dogmatic than the electorate
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