I complete agree with you Alexander and as one of the union members, I know the problems of the former NDP government forcing zeros on public sector employees to be hard to accept. The NDP decision to run away from their record was a big mistake and it cost them dearly. This was the consensus of the people who helped elect the NDP candidate in Calgary Varsity and it is clear that while NDP candidates defended individual policies the leadership made a decision to follow this strategy. While there are those who blame the NDP for righting off the rural vote, in their defense, when travelling across those areas it is hard to see how those voters are. Perhaps this is something that you help explain to me.
If they lost a former NDP seat by betraying the Base, that was a cost of the go-right strategy. If they did not lose any previous or expected seats, then the strategy had no cost. If they picked up any new seats that were a pleasant surprise, then they may be able to say those were benefits of the strategy.
A strategy that had positive cost-benefits can only be critcized for not going far enough.
Firstly, picking up some extra seats means nothing when your opponent nevertheless wins a majority mandate.
Secondly, if you're willing to sacrifice your core principles just to pick up some extra seats, what's the point? If this strategy went far enough to be successful, it would mean the Alberta NDP were so conservative it wouldn't matter.
Finally, the strategy will produce negative results in the long run as our Overton window is dragged further and further to the right.
I complete agree with you Alexander and as one of the union members, I know the problems of the former NDP government forcing zeros on public sector employees to be hard to accept. The NDP decision to run away from their record was a big mistake and it cost them dearly. This was the consensus of the people who helped elect the NDP candidate in Calgary Varsity and it is clear that while NDP candidates defended individual policies the leadership made a decision to follow this strategy. While there are those who blame the NDP for righting off the rural vote, in their defense, when travelling across those areas it is hard to see how those voters are. Perhaps this is something that you help explain to me.
If they lost a former NDP seat by betraying the Base, that was a cost of the go-right strategy. If they did not lose any previous or expected seats, then the strategy had no cost. If they picked up any new seats that were a pleasant surprise, then they may be able to say those were benefits of the strategy.
A strategy that had positive cost-benefits can only be critcized for not going far enough.
A few things in response to this.
Firstly, picking up some extra seats means nothing when your opponent nevertheless wins a majority mandate.
Secondly, if you're willing to sacrifice your core principles just to pick up some extra seats, what's the point? If this strategy went far enough to be successful, it would mean the Alberta NDP were so conservative it wouldn't matter.
Finally, the strategy will produce negative results in the long run as our Overton window is dragged further and further to the right.