After my last post, I am sure to be accused of ensuring Harper will win because I am splitting the vote. It seems as a supporter of the NDP I can only love them most of the time and then when I can actually help them at election time, I'm to vote Liberal to stop someone else from winning. Forget that the NDP actually expresses my values, that the Liberal party doesn't. Just vote Liberal because you are better than the other guy.
It would appear to me that the people online most supportive of strategic voting are Liberals. Please feel free to correct me. If Liberals really wanted to let other ideas into their big red tent then they would work with me and others like me. Let me give you some examples.
In Toronto the Liberals ran Gerard Kennedy against sitting NDP MP, Peggy Nash in the last election. Two fairly good progressives in my mind. My point here is why didn't the Liberals run Kennedy in another riding. I had a very nice Liberal blogger suggest that Peggy Nash should accept this and not run against Kennedy this time out. But it was okay for the Liberals to do it.
In Quebec the Liberals are running a star candidate against Thomas Mulcair, the only NDP MP in the Province. Why are they doing that? Wouldn't it be better to run that person in a neighbour riding and use the star appeal against the BLOC or a Conservative?
Next I would like to ask why Bob Rae was campaigning for a Liberal in Saskatoon Rosetown Biggar Saskatchewan riding. The NDP barely lost this seat to the Conservatives last time out and are the only real contenders against the Conservatives. The Liberals have no hope in hell of winning that seat, yet Bob Rae was there.
Bob Rae didn't stop there either. He went to Vancouver Island North. This seat is always a toss up between the NDP and Conservatives. The Liberals are in green party territory there, yet Bob Rae spent several hours campaigning and attending a town hall meeting. If the Liberals were interested in ensuring we defeat Stephen Harper, why were they in these two ridings with rock start Rae.
Finally let me say that several Liberal bloggers I know of are campaigning in un-winnable seats. In ridings where the NDP could defeat the Conservatives, depriving Harper of his majority. If Harper wins a bare majority I know of a couple bloggers for sure who will have contributed in a very tangible way to that success.
1 comment:
I do not encourage voting for the candidate most likely to defeat Harper. I do encourage Canadians to convince their friends to switch from the Conservatives and vote for one of the other parties.
Why is Bob Rae going to un-winnable Liberal ridings? First, he may be looking for leadership votes. That may seem cynical, but true. Second, he needs to spread the illusion that the Liberals are the only ones that can defeat the Conservatives. This is not true in many ridings out west. Finally, politics is about the illusion of winning and losing. That means, Bob Rae could be happier with a Conservative majority than a minority. As a potential Liberal leader, it's easier to organize for four years under a Harper majority for the following election, than it is to do so under a Harper or Liberal minority. We Canadians may be under the illusion that all politicians would be happy to share some power all of the time over having no power some of the time and all-power the other times.
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