Reply #2: ta ;) [View All]

[iverglas]

It must be just too complicated for our US cousins. ;)

I can't help but hope for the collapse of the Liberal Party.

But of course. And if wishes were horses ...

The only chance the NDP has of forming a national government is to pass it on the left, ...

... *and* getting the votes we need for that to happen! You can't form a government without having the votes.

And you can lead the voters to goodness and reason, but you can't make 'em vote for it. Witness George W. Bush.

... and the best chance for that is at a time of severe regime fatigue and resistance to the Conservative alternative.

Unfortunately, what experience tells us on that point is that the voters switch back to the Liberals. For some reason, they want to believe the lies. Or they just don't remember. Or they're just not real bright. Or they don't care. Or they don't actually like goodness and reason, and prefer greed and corruption. Because they actually benefit from Liberal policies, or because they're too dim to realize that Liberal policies hurt them ...

That's a big reason why I *don't* want to see a Conservative govt now -- not just because it would be extremely unpleasant, but because it would likely help the Liberals, next time around. They're just wizards at reincarnating themselves and playing the messiah.

It may be because I'm old, but I don't put much stock in that bring on the revolutionary circumstances business any more. I've watched evolution work pretty well on the Canadian stage for a while.

Making the Liberals dance to our tune to the extent possible strikes me as the most useful and beneficial strategy. If we get that child care program, it's going to be hard to take it away -- just like the health care plan and old age pensions that we achieved by governing indirectly, you might say. We may *never* actually form the government, but we might continue to drag governments along the right path.


(typo fixed)