It's worked before, why not now?

I have been reading the posts of LPCers today with much interest. Their approach is one of OMG, we have always been Liberals. The LPC can't die. They seem to think that they would lose all the marbles if they joined up with those rascal New Democrats.

I suggest that the Liberal bloggers are living on past laurels. Its as if they are in dream land. The LPC is not the party of Trudeau anymore, albeit many MP's and supporters still cling to that. Its not JC's party anymore. The Liberals no longer hold the centre of politics in this country. The shotgun has a good post on this. The right vote was where Paul Martin started to take the party. They felt they could hold the centre and pull support away from the Conservatives on the right, at least enough to hold onto power.

The Liberals experiment to the right has failed. They have left Canada, a nation more comfortable in the middle, behind. It is in fact Harper that is taking some of those votes in the centre. Just enough of them to hold power.

Looking to the NDP, they have over time moved to the centre themselves. Look at all the NDP provincial governments over the years. See the BC NDP today and you see a party well supported by federal Liberals.

The problem with the Liberal party is not just it's leader. They have a problem with what they want to be. What polices do they have? Where do they stand on major issues? Its hard to define anything about them.

Merger talks will assist in defining just who the heck they are. There would be discussions about priorities, what would happen in Afghanistan, corporate taxes, health and child care and the first nations of this country.

I suspect that even if a merger does not happen, co-operation will be easier after this exercise. Its the only way to get by Stephen Harper. People need something to vote for, not just against Harper.

There will be problems if a merger were to occur. Some Liberals and NDP members and supporters would seek out other places to go. These people will do it even if a co-operation agreement is made. That shouldn't stop us from working together.

If you are a Liberal, look beyond the Liberal Party messaging of the past about the red scare. You have shown it can work before, why can't it work now. My NDP friends have many fears about being lost inside a bigger party. To them I say, bright ideas always find a way to make it to the top.