If Only the NDP would stop trying to win

Like Greg at Sinister Thoughts, I read the Walrus article by James Laxer with about equal helpings of interest and disinterest.

I was interested because Laxer is genuinely one of the left's (and specifically the NDP's) great minds. However, interest turned to disinterest as I got a few paragraphs in. Essentially, it's the same old argument that Liberals make: The NDP takes power away from the Liberals, thereby effectively giving power to the Conservatives. Ergo, the NDP is putting the Conservatives in power.

There's the obvious ideological retort here - there was barely any daylight between Paul Martin's small-government, tax-cutting agenda of the last decade, and Harper's proposals. But I don't find that argument particularly strong, despite the truth of it. Martin, despite my disagreements with his policies, at least brough competence to the table. And the Bush administration shows how valuable that is.

No, my real problem with blaming the NDP for the success of the Tories is that it effectively dismisses the goals of progressives so that our rivals can be handed victory. Sure, in some fantasy the Liberals could have retained our Parliament by taking the NDP. But what has the Liberal party done to earn NDP votes, after their years in power?

I know it's an odd question, but Liberals do need to ask themselves this. Because as shocking as it may be to hear, the left doesn't owe you guys our votes. Here's a radical idea: If the Liberals want the left's support, maybe they should have actually tried building a record of progressive policy successes. As much as it pains me to agree with the Conservatives on anything, the fact is that the Liberals did almost nothing to support Kyoto, and did a great deal of harm to Kyoto before grudgingly signing it. This compares positively only with the fanatics to our south.

Look: The NDP is a political party that espouses different policies than the Liberals. If the Liberals keep losing votes to the NDP (which some Liberals seem to believe) then it's an example of NDP proposals being more popular. Want to regain your popularity? Start acting like we live in a democracy, and start pandering. It's the Canadian way.