Following up on my candidate questionnaire and previous posts about party organization, I’ll offer my own observations on the final two questions I posed to the leadership candidates. I start from the premise that the primary goals of a leader are to serve as the party’s public face and chief
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Accidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
With the NDP’s leadership campaign entering its final week, it’s no great surprise to see plenty more punditry than usual surrounding the race. But what might influence the ballots cast this week (which may end up making all the difference)? – The most attention over the last day or so
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Rankings – March 18, 2012
Since last week, we’ve seen the NDP’s leadership campaign win plenty more attention in the media. But has any of the news managed to change the positioning of the candidates? 1. Thomas Mulcair (1) Well, we’ve certainly seen Thomas Mulcair under the microscope more than he’s ever been. But while
Continue readingCuriosityCat: The Root of the Conflict between NDP’s Ed Broadbent and Thomas Mulcair
Canadians can be excused for feeling a bit out of touch with the squabble that has engulfed the NDP. Ed Broadbent, the old warhorse with a long record of service to the NDP, has come out swinging at the upstart Thomas Mulcair, who has overshadowed Broadbent’s preferred candidate for new
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Questionnaire Response – Thomas Mulcair
Here’s Thomas Mulcair’s response to my leadership questionnaire on the NDP’s party organization: 1. As leader, what changes (if any) would you seek to make to the NDP’s:(a) caucus management and discipline?(b) membership engagement and organizational structure?(c) policy development process?(d) candidate recruitment and nomination process?(e) relationship to other political parties?(f)
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
Random readings to occupy your time. – Stephen Maher and Glen McGregor are still digging into Robocon – with a focus on figuring out exactly how “Pierre Poutine” assembled lists of anti-Con voters to target. And Sixth Estate both points out that the count of affected ridings is up to
Continue readingPolitics and its Discontents: Thomas Mulcair’s Stance On Israel
Thomas Mulcair, who has just been endorsed by The Star as the best candidate to lead the NDP to power, is an MP I became familiar with during the lead-up to the last federal election. A frequent guest on Evan Solomon’s Power and Politics, the member from Outremount impressed me
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
The latest couple of days worth of news as the NDP’s leadership campaign enters its final week – aside from multiple candidates including Niki Ashton, Paul Dewar and Peggy Nash all taking the opportunity to call for unity in the wake of the continued overreaction to Ed Broadbent’s latest comments.
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On saintly proclamations
Ed Broadbent’s recent foray into the NDP’s leadership campaign has certainly attracted plenty of media attention. But it’s worth taking a skeptical look as to why the story has been such a media favourite – and why we should resist the temptation to focus our discussion of the race on
Continue readingMontreal Simon: In Defence of Thomas Mulcair
I wasn’t planning to write anything about the NDP leadership race today, but after yesterday’s attack on Thomas Mulcair by Ed Broadbent, I feel I have no choice. For that attack was ill advised, intellectually dishonest, and cognitively challenged. And mark my words, if the NDP rejects Mulcair it will
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
A couple more days’ worth of developments in the NDP’s leadership campaign… – Niki Ashton argued that Canada’s grain supply should be considered a strategic resource in evaluating takeover bids for Viterra, and earned a glowing profile from Carol Goar. – Nathan Cullen unveiled another caucus endorsement from Bruce Hyer
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
Followup commentary from the final NDP leadership on Sunday, as well as a couple more days worth of developments in the campaign. – Most of the post–debate coverage focused on a Thomas Mulcair-vs-the field contrast, while Quinn and Adventures in Socialism offered a few more interesting observations. – Niki Ashton
Continue readingThomas Mulcair Explains Youth Strategy
In this brief video from Huffington Post Canada Thomas Mulcair gives some insight into his strategy for not just increasing the parties presence among progressive voters but also details briefly how to get the youth demographic more engaged. Filed under: #ndpldr, Canada, Progressives Tagged: Thomas Mulcair
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: On shifting alliances
Having pointed out the effect of Peggy Nash’s willingness to consider cross-party cooperation in my rankings post, I’ll double back to one of the other noteworthy developments today – as Thomas Mulcair may have utterly reshaped the expected movement of down-ballot support. Since the start of the campaign, plenty of
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Candidate Rankings – March 11, 2012
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen what look to be a couple of noteworthy efforts among the NDP’s leadership candidates to reach out to other campaigns’ supporters in order to win over the down-ballot support that will likely decide the outcome of the campaign. So how have those
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
Assorted news and notes from the NDP’s leadership campaign as we approach today’s final debate… – Niki Ashton pointed out how the NDP should be able to tap into the desire for democratic decision-making that once motivated the Reform Party before it was turned into a top-down organization under the
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Howard Hampton’s letter endorsing Thomas Mulcair
The following is an open letter from former Leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party Howard Hampton on behalf of NDP Deputy Leader Thomas Mulcair. Fellow New Democrats, As we head into the final weeks of this leadership race, I’m impressed by the positive energy that’s building behind Thomas Mulcair.
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: "Tom Mulcair is the NDPs only alternative"
from Troy Media: Tom Mulcair is the NDP’s only alternative I’ve highlighted some key points in the article. ATHABASCA, AB, Mar. 9, 2012, Troy Media/ – “Ordinary Canadians,” to use a phrase that New Democratic Party leaders have been repeating for decades, are clear about whom they want to win
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Leadership 2012 Roundup
A few days worth of news from the NDP’s leadership campaign… – Niki Ashton appealed to NDP members to consider the need to build among younger voters. – Co-campaign manager Jamey Heath took to the opinion pages in defence of Nathan Cullen’s joint nomination proposal. But I seem to recall
Continue readingDriving The Porcelain Bus: Thomas Mulcair interviewed by Planet S
Planet S recently interviewed Thomas Mulcair, NDP Leadership 2012 candidate: THOMAS MULCAIR In 2008, Thomas Mulcair became the first NDP MP to be elected in Québec. Prior to that, Mulcair, as Québec’s Environment Minister with the provincial Liberal government, fought for a groundbreaking amendment to the Québec Charter of Human
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