We didn’t lose the election. The Liberals didn’t win it either.
We failed to win it.
There are a great many explanations for why we failed to win, but I have spent a great deal of time since about 8:30pm on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 talking to dozens of people about what is systemically wrong with the BC NDP so we can think about moving forward. I was angry too, but quickly I stopped the urge to participate in a witch hunt. We didn’t win an election we should have. That was done. It was time to figure out what needs fixing…future focussed.
Here is a short list of many of the most popular explanations for why we aren’t in government right now, in no particular order. Tomorrow I’ll explore how these issues connect to party transformation and why I’m running for BC NDP Vice-President.
- Carole James – bad leader, woman, not inspiring, lacks vision or passion, been around too long
- Negative Campaign – smearing Cambell, Maui, COPE 378′s ads, using the Liberals’ tactics of getting elected when they largely point out how much the NDP sucks, relying on the Liberals’ horrible policies to allow the party to phone in a campaign
- The Platform – unfocused, not clearly promoted as positive alternatives, not communicated to members or the public
- The Slogan – too many slogans, unclear slogans, slogan-based campaign
- Party Disorganization – despite knowing when the election was to happen not having enough volunteers, money, key staff when required
- Policy Reversals – Axe the Tax and supporting the Port Mann Bridge rebuild and Gateway which violated explicit party policy
- Rogue Leadership – lack of accessibility and accountability through different elements of the party
- Fear – throwing under the bus anything necessary to avoid/appease criticism
- Not Developing Constituencies – lack of time, money, and resources to develop robust activists, fundraisers, and networks with progressive groups eager to mobilize members and supporters to stop the Liberals
OK, so #9 is a bit of a plant. That’s what Think Forward BC NDP speaks to and it’s a bit of a hint at what tomorrow’s piece will be all about. But it’s not a coincidence. In figuring out what Vancouver-Kensington wants to do for the next 3.5 years, we looked at these very areas that we need to develop further.
I believe the whole party can benefit from addressing the systemic weaknesses in the party. That’s why I’m running for one of the 6 Vice-President positions.
Tomorrow I’ll explore each of the above areas in the context of transforming the party into the electoral wing of a progressive social movement.
Which elections did it win? 2005? 2009?
If we need to split the right to win, that means we can’t really win when that doesn’t happen, like in 2005 and 2009.
So should the party even run candidates in years when the right isn’t split?
Regarding the party not being hampered by pesky things like policy and such, here’s the kind of party you are describing:
- A party exists.
- It has policies.
- It attracts members, cash and candidates.
- It wants to improvise without the pesky members holding the leadership or politicians to any political philosophy.
- They either form government or not.
- The members leave the party because it no longer reflects their values and on any given day, it could believe whatever is expedient/strategically attractive.
- The party is over.
Does this accurately characterize how you see the BC NDP working?
Wow, I see you want to turn the NDP into the left wing version of the CHP.
I say leave the dogmas and moral absolutes to the crazies.
Do you have any response to our 2005 and 2009 electoral losses, and pandering to emotion and gut instinct?
By CHP, do you mean the Christian Heritage Party? :)
Did you really expect to win 2005?
By my definition CJ did an outstanding job taking the party out of oblivion.
As for 2009, approx 6,000 votes in 8 ridings was the difference. Knowing the demographic make up of these swing ridings would tell any political analyst, that left wing “special interest” politics won’t give us the necessary gains.
The best strategy is give a wink and a nod to the BC Conservatives. We only need them at 10% to win. This could be accomplished by stating publicly; That although we don’t agree with them. We respect that fact, they are staying true to their beliefs.
I am afraid your strategy as a political wing for social movements would be perceived as pandering to special interests.
[...] you might want to subscribe to the RSS feed for updates or check out my audio and video podcasts.On Monday and Tuesday I wrote about reasons I had been hearing from people about why they think we lost the [...]
whats wrong with you? don’t vote NDP if those are your beliefs, but really, shut the fk up
“Here is a short list of many of the most popular explanations for why we aren’t in government right now, in no particular order.”
These are the explanations I’ve been hearing. So, no, I don’t believe them.
[...] candidate Stephen Elliott-Buckley has included party leader Carole James’s gender on a list of the “most popular explanations why we aren’t in government right now.” But Mr. [...]