Re: 41st Canadian Election: Bloc Party!
Basically, yes, though under Layton the NDP has gradually shifted from being a party of rural populists and organized labor to be more oriented towards big-city progressivism.
As you said, Red Cloud, the resurgence of Layton and the NDP seems rather shocking to me. The only way I can explain it is as a sort of "pox on both their houses" scenario. I've come to the conclusion that a lot of people dislike Harper personally (to me, he comes off as a sanctimonious nerd somewhat analogous to Paul Ryan), whereas Ignatieff (who would be remarkably unelectable in the US due to his extensive time spent outside Canada, his wife's non-citizen status and his academic credentials) is something of a Canadian John Kerry -- a figure with nil charisma who is forever trying to make himself sound dumber and lower-cultured in a futile attempt to relate to his audience. Layton has a tendency to sound like a used-car salesman, but I can't help but think that some personal challenges (he's had prostate cancer recently and is walking with a cane due to a recent hip surgery) is making him look a little less crazy.
Gilles Duceppe, who has been leading the federal BQ since the mid-90s, has got to seem like a pretty tired option by now, and the Greens to me smack of political 'mainstreaming,' that is, their support is being vastly overestimated in hopes of appearing 'fair and balanced.'
Harper's going to win, and probably a majority, because he's facing a divided opposition the likes of which Jean Chretien would envy, but the Liberals really don't have their **** together (their last leader, Stephanie Dion, was even worse and he didn't even speak decent English), and they may pay for it.
Basically, yes, though under Layton the NDP has gradually shifted from being a party of rural populists and organized labor to be more oriented towards big-city progressivism.
As you said, Red Cloud, the resurgence of Layton and the NDP seems rather shocking to me. The only way I can explain it is as a sort of "pox on both their houses" scenario. I've come to the conclusion that a lot of people dislike Harper personally (to me, he comes off as a sanctimonious nerd somewhat analogous to Paul Ryan), whereas Ignatieff (who would be remarkably unelectable in the US due to his extensive time spent outside Canada, his wife's non-citizen status and his academic credentials) is something of a Canadian John Kerry -- a figure with nil charisma who is forever trying to make himself sound dumber and lower-cultured in a futile attempt to relate to his audience. Layton has a tendency to sound like a used-car salesman, but I can't help but think that some personal challenges (he's had prostate cancer recently and is walking with a cane due to a recent hip surgery) is making him look a little less crazy.
Gilles Duceppe, who has been leading the federal BQ since the mid-90s, has got to seem like a pretty tired option by now, and the Greens to me smack of political 'mainstreaming,' that is, their support is being vastly overestimated in hopes of appearing 'fair and balanced.'
Harper's going to win, and probably a majority, because he's facing a divided opposition the likes of which Jean Chretien would envy, but the Liberals really don't have their **** together (their last leader, Stephanie Dion, was even worse and he didn't even speak decent English), and they may pay for it.
