Shut Up And Listen 131

The Race To Queen’s Park Week Three: The New Democrat Party
If people were honest, smart and logical, they’d vote NDP in the upcoming provincial election. That isn’t me saying that because I’m voting NDP. I’m saying that based on poll results that said the two most important things to Ontario voters are healthcare and education. If those two are the things Ontarians want to be focused on the most then they really have no choice but to vote NDP.
	The NDP was often described as the half when Canada had “two-and-a-half” parties. They’re the party that’s never held a federal government, but has pretty good success on a provincial level. The NDP is pretty much built on small, local-level support. They’re kind of like the Green party, but only, you know, successful. And quite honestly, they could radically affect this election. That’s a big negative for the NDP as far as a lot of people are considered. The NDP can take a lot of votes away from the Liberals, which means in some ridings, the Tories may take it because of the split. So there is a campaign to get NDP supporters to vote Liberal in ridings where it looks like the Liberals will need some extra help to oust the Tories.
	Another big problem with the NDP is that they’re left-wing. While I agree with their politics, a lot of people can’t get on board and still have the mentality of anyone left of centre being a dope-smoking hippie who will surrender us to the commies. Also, they also suffer from having the youth of the nation on their side, which means that they could probably win most of the time. In theory. In theory, they have a huge support base, but in actuality, they have people in their twenties who talk a lot and don’t do shit. If the NDP could actually get the youth vote to, well, vote they could probably take a step up from third right now and become a major contender with a good chance of winning.
	As I was saying before though, in theory the NDP should win hands down. Because if people are really as concerned about healthcare and education as they say they are, then the NDP is the logical choice. Their plan is to spend a huge amount of money on both healthcare and education and make them far, far better and more effective than they are now. But of course, that does mean the economy will suffer because taxes may go up and the government will go into deficit. So it is kind of a trade-off with them.
	I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the NDP. While I can’t really see myself voting for anyone but them, I just don’t like the way they’re run. In reality, the Green Party should be a part of them and yet it isn’t. Why? Their goals are the same or at least they should be. Every candidate I see for the NDP also has white or grey hair, which doesn’t speak too well to the youth voters. They need some younger people as the public face of the NDP with the older members there as advisors. Really, to win, I think they should avoid playing politics the way everyone else does. They should be out there with the radical ideas and the image of being the future of Canada instead of being the semi-different old people trying to be hip.
	Still, don’t expect them to take anything big beyond a distance third. Sadly, if politics and logic actually did sync up, they’d win, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

A Quick Word . . .
Thought I should comment on all the trash-talking that’s been coming out from Ernie Eves and the Tories against Dalton McGuinty and the Liberals. For some strange reason, I like it. I don’t know, I just don’t have a problem with mud-slinging and all of that in politics. I guess I expect it to happen and thus don’t really see it as a problem. Although the “kitten eating” comment was just lame. Trash-talk, yes, but don’t make it stupid. I do wish they’d actually make some plausible arguments against their opponents in debates though. Seriously, go in with research and quotes of what your opponent has said and compare that with how they acted and such. Hold them accountable. Hype versus reality. That’s the best way to get it done. Be mean, crude, rude and fucking brutal, but do it with style, charm and brains. At least, that’s what I think.