rabble.ca Canadian federal election blog

Let’s stop trying to save the Liberals from themselves

by Scott Piatkowski

Imagine, if you will, that the levels of support for each political party were represented by containers of water.

The container representing the Conservatives is almost full (much the same level as it was in 2006), but there is no opportunity for it to reach full capacity. In fact, the water in that container is so stagnant that it’s clearly starting to evaporate. Of course, that doesn’t stop the Liberals and their cheerleaders in the media from talking about the looming threat that the Conservative container could reach its full capacity and even overflow — even though there is little or no evidence that that’s going to happen.

So, let’s focus on the Liberal and the NDP containers. The Liberal container was full at one point and there are many who believe that it can be made full again if they keep adding water. But, the problem is that the container is leaking badly. A combination of corruption, arrogance and a complete unwillingness to do the job of opposition (because they’re honestly convinced that they should still be in government) has poked so many holes in the Liberal container that it can’t hold its support.

Meanwhile, the NDP container is steadily filling up. With each election, NDP support ends up at a higher level — but never as high it could be. But, say the experts, the NDP container can never be full enough to challenge the Conservatives (and we all know that the Conservative container could be filled to capacity if we’re not careful). So, each election the call goes out: the Liberals are leaking support (again); we must take some of the support from the NDP (again) to top up the Liberal container.

But let’s look at an alternative scenario. Instead of continually transferring support from the NDP to the Liberals (to make up for the Liberals’ inability to attract support on their own merits), what if we just let the Liberals’ continue to leak until they figure out a way to plug the holes? What if we let the NDP container continue to fill up instead of constantly siphoning off support in an ongoing attempt to save the Liberals from themselves?

Remember, we already know that we don’t have to worry about the level of the Conservative container. Regardless of how badly the Liberals do or how well the NDP does, it’s already got as full as it’s going to get. That’s far from majority levels.

But, think about the prospect of the Conservatives facing a real opposition — one that is growing in support and has the potential to grow even more — instead of an opposition that is afraid of its own shadow, as it clings to memories of a time that its container was almost always full (almost as if they were Canada’s National Governing Party).

That’s the opportunity that awaits us as we go to the polls tomorrow. Don’t waste your vote on the Liberals. They’ve done nothing to earn it. Moreover, they’ll never really learn if they keep managing to avoid the consequences of their actions.

Instead, give your to the one party that not only consistently opposed Stephen Harper for the past two-and-a-half years, but also the party that has offered a clear alternative vision for governing this country in a progressive manner. Tomorrow, when you go to vote, put your X beside the name of your local NDP candidate.