Quote:
Originally Posted by Slava
I’m just pointing out that they’re extremists in both parties. I think that’s the case with the ANDP as well. And we did get to see some of that ridiculousness last time around with the Tzeporah Berman appointment. I get why they’re adding blue to the logo and trying to push the idea that they’re in the middle. I also understand why NDP supporters here are pushing that narrative.
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I guess I don’t agree that the idea of the NDP being in the political centre is a “narrative.” The smartest move the NDP made in the last decade was to move to the middle and crowd out the other options there, including the Liberals and the Alberta party (which had promise but never got off the ground). Yes, the FEDERAL NDP is further to the left; so are many other provincial NDP caucuses. But the evidence simply does not support the idea that Notley is an extremist, or that the ALBERTA NDP is anything other than a centrist party right now. And that fact has guided my political choices too: I’m not ready to vote NDP federally but the choice to vote for the Alberta NDP is very easy right now.
The way I see it, we have two choices in Alberta: a far right wing party that includes and panders to the political fringe, and a center-left party with a history of being further to the left than they are currently, and a brand affiliation with other parties (like the Federal NDP) that are more extreme. But that’s not a reason not to vote for them. It would make as much sense to say that you won’t support the Federal Liberal party because you don’t care for the ideas of the BC Liberals.
And we can bemoan our choices all we want, but it is kind of similar to what Americans faced in 2020.
There’s an apt analogy: voters are all forced to eat at the same restaurant. The restaurant only serves two dishes, and you have to order one (if you don’t, someone else orders for you).
The choices are a salami sandwich and a steaming plateful of dog turd.
Half of voters will look at those choices and go “well, I don’t really like salami…..”. Some of them might even have had salami sandwiches they didn’t like in the past. You might even be a vegetarian. Maybe in the past you’ve ordered the other choice, and it wasn’t a turd before. So you kind of hope that maybe the restaurant isn’t REALLY serious about serving you an actual turd—but in your heart of hearts you know that this is deadly serious, because there was a turd on the sampler platter.
At the end of the day, this isn’t a hard choice. You don’t have to like salami. Lots of people don’t. But today you have to order the salami, because, well… the other choice is a literal turd.
And don’t forget: the only way to get the restaurant to stop serving turds to its customers is to make it 100% clear that no matter how they are dressed up, and no matter what party logo is on the plate, we will not eat them.
That’s how I think of this election. And I’m ordering the salami. I don’t even REALLY like salami that much, but the choice is still really easy.