The more I look at the outcomes, it almost seems like the overall picture is that voters were voting "against the status quo". A long-time Liberal "safe" riding swung to the NDP, the Con$ picked up a Bloc seat, and while the Bloc hung onto a seat it had held in the past, it doesn't sound like a particularly strong victory for them either. While Layton's NDP gained a seat, it's not clear that the NDP actually made gains, or was the vote more a matter of "not voting for the other parties"? (I doubt very much that the NDP will hold that seat after the next Federal election)
Perhaps this statement captured in this mornings Globe and Mail reflects the unsettled mood of politics in Quebec, and large portions of Canada as well:
Another voter leaving the polls, Phil Koropotkin, said he's not impressed with Mr. Dion, and switched from past elections: “I've always voted Liberal, but it's time for a change. There's nobody there that stimulates me,” he said. “I think the leadership is in for a rude awakening.”
In other words, all of the parties have a lot of work to do - last night's byelections seem to reinforce the malaise that voters in Canada as a whole seem to be feeling. (Notable by the utter lack of real traction for any of the major parties in the polls for the last 24 months or more)
2 comments:
I think Dion has the problem that he's seen as having been leader "for awhile now", but hasn't really done anything. Hopefully he'll shine in the upcoming sitting of Parliment - assuming it ever gets started.
Of course, "doing better then Harper, Duceppe and Layton" is an awfully low bar to set.
Quixote
These by elections are only blips on the screen, since the numbers don't really change and given that Harper has delayed the opening of Parliament till mid-October, it will have no overall affect at all. If the other three parties stick to their guns and vote against the Cons, Harper's throne speech will fail a non confidence vote and elections will happen. So the results of the by-elections are of little consequence, but they may be useful in pointing out potential weaknesses within the parties, if they can see beyond their own egos.
E.
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