Quote:
Originally Posted by Parallex
Oddly I know a good number of folk (self-defined populists all) that have alternated between the two. And Layton does have to attack the Conservatives... if he doesn't then his party will not be seen as a credible opposition to the Tories, and he'll be seen as operating contrary to the preferred outcome of his core supporters, and from a historical perspective his opportunities for leverage are likely greater with a minority Liberal Government then with a minority Conservative government. Opposing the government (as all opposition parties should do) doesn't present the risk that his supporters will abandon him enmasse.
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But by thinking that way Layton cuts his own throats by losing seats by the number and he becomes ineffectual in terms of being a power broker depending on seat distributions.
I don't know of any people on lets call it my side of the spectrum that would even consider voting for Layton. They might consider voting for the Liberals, even though Ignatieff to them isn't a great option.
Layton's goal almost has to be to relegate the Liberal seat count down, or even push the NDP into the position of official opposition.
I get what your saying, but Layton's mistake is exclusively trying to fight the conservatives, he has to do that, but he also has to prove that he's the alternative vote to the Liberals especially with disenfranchised Liberal supporters.
However its still reletively early in the election, I would expect to see some pretty interesting polls leading up to the leaders debate.
But to me, Layton has been pretty lackluster, and he looks tired and pasty early on. Ironically Layton allowing the Conservative government to topple might lead to his down fall as the NDP leader.