I can't say I was a fan of Jack Layton's, nor of the NDP under his leadership. I sincerely hope whoever takes over can undo at least some of the damage.
I still hold Jack responsible for bringing down the Liberals right at the start of the COP 11 climate negotiations and introducing Harper to the PMO in 2005/6 (killing the Kelowna Accord in the process was an added bonus). The NDP's rabid attacks on Dion's carbon-tax proposal in 2008 sounded like they were ripped directly from a Conservative playbook. Granted the Dion Liberals mostly dug their own incompetent grave, but old Laughin' Jack was only too ready to help shove them into it, ensuring that no political party (except the Greens, natch) will dare to propose a national carbon tax in Canada or campaign seriously on the environment for another generation. (It certainly didn't help when the BC NDP merrily followed his lead with a similarly vicious Ax-the-Tax campaign in 2009, which was similarly counterproductive though for quite different reasons.) Layton's performance this spring, where he seemed more intent on sticking a final shiv in the Liberals than actually bringing Harper down, was just par for the course by then, and boy did it work. Thanks Jack!
Sure he lead the NDP to an unprecedented finish and a miracle breakthrough in Quebec, but at what cost? They have less actual power to do anything now than they did with half as many seats in a minority parliament. What a victory! And we don't even know how many of the Quebec seats will get a second term yet... I wonder what some of those "Orange Surge" voters who were probably basically voting for Jack personally (or thought they were) are thinking now.
Still, good luck to Turmel. I've heard decent things about her, the whole PQ red-herring notwithstanding, and I'm curious of course who's going to take over now. I just truly hope whoever else it is, it isn't Mulcair.
I'm very unhappy with the current state of affairs, and the fact that had the NDP *or* the Liberal voters in a bunch of ridings voted with half a brain they would be in a majority coalition right now, instead of giving away a ton of seats to the CPC (non-communist) by idiotically voting for the third-place guy.
But at the same time, if I were choosing what order the party leaders should die in, I would have picked Layton last.
I hope that list was limited to the top 3 parties! For being a caucus of one, May's actually been setting a pretty impressive example so far.
But yes, I saw your post-election analysis and I do agree. It was an idiotic result all around, ending with a "majority government" that ultimately rests on 6000 votes in the Greater Toronto area.
Green cost real parties a seat by vote splitting in a couple of places - but sure, okay, I would probably have flipped a coin between May and Layton for last place.
(Harper and Ignatieff vying for first place would be determined entirely by if I had a time machine or not. Duceppe would take a solid #3 on principle.)
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-22 01:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-22 02:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-22 08:48 pm (UTC)Goddammit.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-22 09:58 pm (UTC)I still hold Jack responsible for bringing down the Liberals right at the start of the COP 11 climate negotiations and introducing Harper to the PMO in 2005/6 (killing the Kelowna Accord in the process was an added bonus). The NDP's rabid attacks on Dion's carbon-tax proposal in 2008 sounded like they were ripped directly from a Conservative playbook. Granted the Dion Liberals mostly dug their own incompetent grave, but old Laughin' Jack was only too ready to help shove them into it, ensuring that no political party (except the Greens, natch) will dare to propose a national carbon tax in Canada or campaign seriously on the environment for another generation. (It certainly didn't help when the BC NDP merrily followed his lead with a similarly vicious Ax-the-Tax campaign in 2009, which was similarly counterproductive though for quite different reasons.) Layton's performance this spring, where he seemed more intent on sticking a final shiv in the Liberals than actually bringing Harper down, was just par for the course by then, and boy did it work. Thanks Jack!
Sure he lead the NDP to an unprecedented finish and a miracle breakthrough in Quebec, but at what cost? They have less actual power to do anything now than they did with half as many seats in a minority parliament. What a victory! And we don't even know how many of the Quebec seats will get a second term yet... I wonder what some of those "Orange Surge" voters who were probably basically voting for Jack personally (or thought they were) are thinking now.
Still, good luck to Turmel. I've heard decent things about her, the whole PQ red-herring notwithstanding, and I'm curious of course who's going to take over now. I just truly hope whoever else it is, it isn't Mulcair.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-22 10:11 pm (UTC)But at the same time, if I were choosing what order the party leaders should die in, I would have picked Layton last.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-22 10:31 pm (UTC)But yes, I saw your post-election analysis and I do agree. It was an idiotic result all around, ending with a "majority government" that ultimately rests on 6000 votes in the Greater Toronto area.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-08-22 10:55 pm (UTC)(Harper and Ignatieff vying for first place would be determined entirely by if I had a time machine or not. Duceppe would take a solid #3 on principle.)