Originally Posted by belsarius
Well this is an enlightening discussion showing why FPTP is so terrible. As an actual NDPer (as opposed to anti-UCPers) I am fully behind Ganley on this, Nenshi is not really a part of the NDP group and braintrust so for him to parachute in is kind of a slap in the face.
What I am seeing is a bunch of people annoyed at the Conservatives in this province and wanting a change, but they want the other party to bend to their needs. For me, that's not what this should be about at all. Politics has devolved into a team sport about who can "win elections". Nobody seems to really care about the ANDP party, they just want someone to stop the UCP. Change the name, change the leader, change the direction, change the focus.
Piss off and leave my party alone. If you don't agree with their stances, then don't vote for them, vote for someone you believe in, don't change my party into something you want simply because you don't like the UCP.
And this is where the FPTP is causing all of the issues. The "centrist" people feel left out and want someone to vote for. Fine, then Nenshi should go run for the Alberta Party and create that space, not steal the base from a party. Will that take votes away from the NDP, split the rest and cause the UCP to win. Probably, but that's how it should work.
I don't vote for a side to win at all costs, I vote for the party whose policies and ideologies I support and identify with. And to be honest, the last couple years of the NDP in power and their campaigning since has pushed me farther from them than anything else. They settled into a nice centre, if not centre-right position to get votes, but it still wasn't enough. Sold their soul for another chance to govern and lost.
So you don't like the left ideals? Fine, then go find a new party to vote for, but this push to change the colour, change the name, basically destroy the NDP in this province simply to win an election pisses me off. Some of us have voted for the NDP since they were a 1 person caucus. Not because we believed we could win the government, but because we wanted someone in the legislature that would be our voice.
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