Lib Bloggers come out swinging against the NDP
Over the past few weeks, I've seen numerous Liberal bloggers attacking the NDP and Jack Layton. The attacks have seemed very harsh and personal. I've been keeping up with the news and I know the facts around the party positions on the gun registry. And, I see that the level and number of the attacks don't seem to be supported by the facts around the issue.
The NDP must be doing something right - like trying to improve the gun registry instead of killing it - or voting as their constituents wish.
A lot of Liberal bloggers have been taking the NDP and Jack Layton to task for their stance on the gun registry. The general stance of Jack and the NDP is supportive of the registry. The Liberal bloggers seem oblivious to the NDP's aim to introduce legislation to fix the registry so that citizens, and opposition MPs opposed to it, can find it more reasonable and thus support the registry.
These Liberal bloggers are being very hypocritical when they say that - oh, here goes the NDP supporting the Conservatives. They forget who has been voting or abstaining in order to prop up the Conservatives since Harper's bunch first became the government - the Liberals. The Liberals have undeniably given the Conservatives a virtual majority government all this time - voting for or abstaining from voting on Conservative bills that the Liberals themselves didn't like.
The NDP allows free votes on private members bills. They always have. This allows MPs to vote for what their constituents want and with their conscience. The NDP generally votes as a whole with their conscience on most issues. The gun registry, as is, is opposed by most people in rural areas for some good reasons. And NDP MPs represent 12 of these rural ridings. So, unless the registry is improved, as the NDP proposes, these MPs will most likely vote to repeal the registry.
Now, just imagine if the Liberal members of parliament actually voted as their constituents wanted them to and with their conscience - we would have got rid of the Conservative government years ago. Instead, the Liberals went against the wishes of their constituents and their conscience time and again for many votes over many years, and, as a result, Canada continues to suffer under a Conservative Harper government. The Liberals have been punished by their constituents and have dropped and stagnated in the polls (losing a significant number of seats last election, and not looking good if an election were held today). There are many people who used to vote Liberal who have decided to not vote for them next time.
Do the Liberals think that by attacking the NDP that they will win more seats in NDP ridings? Unlikely. And especially unlikely in those rural NDP ridings. This seems a poor strategy for a party that has lost most of the seats it has lost to the Conservatives.
The Liberals can attack the NDP all it wants on the gun registry issue but it won't get them anywhere because people who may have supported the Liberals, or have sometimes thought they might support the Liberals, won't vote for a party that has let down its constituents the way this Liberal party has on numerous issues for years.
See also:
Accidental Deliberations - On Appeals To Conscience
Why do Lib bloggers hold democracy in such contempt?
The NDP split - democracy as it should be
The NDP must be doing something right - like trying to improve the gun registry instead of killing it - or voting as their constituents wish.
A lot of Liberal bloggers have been taking the NDP and Jack Layton to task for their stance on the gun registry. The general stance of Jack and the NDP is supportive of the registry. The Liberal bloggers seem oblivious to the NDP's aim to introduce legislation to fix the registry so that citizens, and opposition MPs opposed to it, can find it more reasonable and thus support the registry.
These Liberal bloggers are being very hypocritical when they say that - oh, here goes the NDP supporting the Conservatives. They forget who has been voting or abstaining in order to prop up the Conservatives since Harper's bunch first became the government - the Liberals. The Liberals have undeniably given the Conservatives a virtual majority government all this time - voting for or abstaining from voting on Conservative bills that the Liberals themselves didn't like.
The NDP allows free votes on private members bills. They always have. This allows MPs to vote for what their constituents want and with their conscience. The NDP generally votes as a whole with their conscience on most issues. The gun registry, as is, is opposed by most people in rural areas for some good reasons. And NDP MPs represent 12 of these rural ridings. So, unless the registry is improved, as the NDP proposes, these MPs will most likely vote to repeal the registry.
Now, just imagine if the Liberal members of parliament actually voted as their constituents wanted them to and with their conscience - we would have got rid of the Conservative government years ago. Instead, the Liberals went against the wishes of their constituents and their conscience time and again for many votes over many years, and, as a result, Canada continues to suffer under a Conservative Harper government. The Liberals have been punished by their constituents and have dropped and stagnated in the polls (losing a significant number of seats last election, and not looking good if an election were held today). There are many people who used to vote Liberal who have decided to not vote for them next time.
Do the Liberals think that by attacking the NDP that they will win more seats in NDP ridings? Unlikely. And especially unlikely in those rural NDP ridings. This seems a poor strategy for a party that has lost most of the seats it has lost to the Conservatives.
The Liberals can attack the NDP all it wants on the gun registry issue but it won't get them anywhere because people who may have supported the Liberals, or have sometimes thought they might support the Liberals, won't vote for a party that has let down its constituents the way this Liberal party has on numerous issues for years.
See also:
Accidental Deliberations - On Appeals To Conscience
Why do Lib bloggers hold democracy in such contempt?
The NDP split - democracy as it should be
1 comment:
Great post! The headlines of ProgBlogs gets so shallow and vacuous whenever the gun registry comes up.
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