NS Liberal Party: The middle ground

I've tried, during this campaign, to view the options as unbiased as possible. After all, as mentioned in a previous post, I have respect for the NDP and their agenda, and consider one of their MLA's a personal friend. However, I made the choice to join the Liberal Party of Canada (and, by virtue of that, Nova Scotia) in 2006 and have not felt the urge to turn back since.

So, after having heard the rhetoric, read the platforms (the PC haven't released one yet as of this post, but they've let us know the just of what they'd do) and talked to several of the candidates around the HRM, I've come to the conclusion that the Liberal Party of Nova Scotia is indeed the party that presents the best choice for Nova Scotians. Now, granted it's not exactly earth-shattering that a Liberal blogger would endorse the Liberal Party, but consider that, despite my affiliation, I'm prepared to give people the benefit of the doubt in most cases. I'll temper my endorsement, in fact, by stating that the NDP likely won't do a horrible job, should they win government.

I say "should" rather than "when" because, despite my endorsement at the beginning of this thing, I still see this as a 3-way race. MacDonald hasn't done much to justify that, mind, but stranger things have happened before. My feeling is that, if he can convince Nova Scotians enough that the NDP bogeyman is too risky, he can bring enough wanderers back to the Tory camp to scratch out a bare minority government. It's unlikely, but possible.

On the other hand, Darrell Dexter and the NDP have the momentum here and so they seem most likely to hit the finish line in first place at this point. They've been pretty low-key so far, keeping their head down and riding the wave of PC resentment. It's worked for them so far, but it also leaves them open to being outdone.

So, what we have here are two parties whose main platform is built around, "We aren't the other guy." and I think this is a great advantage for Stephen McNeil and the Liberals. They've stayed mostly out of the back-and-forth and actually made their campaign about ideas and issues, rather than finger-pointing. They've made a point of running a positive campaign, refraining from any attack ads and haven't been afraid to put forward ideas that are new, different and, possibly, open to criticism. Instead of the "Risky NDP/Risky PC" games from the "frontrunners", Liberal ads focus on McNeil's smiling face and an actual plan for the province. That's why I believe the Liberal Party will become the Official Opposition after the smoke clears, perhaps even coming up the middle to manage a minority government; they've been the only party who has stood on its own, instead of basing itself around what the others are not. While the NDP and PC are playing games, the Liberals are talking about ideas. That's not to say that maybe there's some merit to the concerns about the NDP taking charge during these hard economic times (remember Ontario? [sorry, Bob!]).

To put it in one line: the Liberal Party is an option for those who are tired of the PC, but don't trust the NDP.

And they're off!

So, as many have heard the Nova Scotia election was officially called today as Lieutenant-Governor, Mayann Francis, dissolved the Nova Scotia Legislature. We will cast our ballots on June 9th after a 35-day campaign.

I, for one, am quite excited about the upcoming campaign. It promises to be very interesting campaign that will focus heavily on which party is best able to guide Nova Scotia through the economic duldrums faced by the province, the country and, indeed, the world.

What I find particularly interesting is that, in the midst of this economic uncertainty, polls are showing that a plurality of Nova Scotians are prepared to put their faith in the Nova Scotia New Democratic Party - the NDP being a party that history hasn't shown is the best one to lead provinces through recessions (sorry, Bob). The PC Government has been watching their fortunes flailing and have been conducting a smear campaign against Darrell Dexter's NDP for a number of weeks now. The Liberals, meanwhile, seem to have been just trying to get in a word edgewise.

As a Liberal, it's something of a disappointment to see the Liberal Party with no chance, short of a miracle, of winning Government during this election. It disappoints me still more that the NDP here is actually taken seriously as a potential governing party, let alone on the very threshold of winning Government. Nova Scotia remains the sole Atlantic Canadian province where the NDP is taken seriously, with New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador electing their one and only NDP Member each during their last elections and PEI with a better chance of electing a Communist to their Legislative Assembly than a New Democrat. Yet here in the Bluenose Province, the NDP is a serious contender. Go figure.

Not that some of their ideas aren't good. I've always supported the idea of public auto insurance and, when I was down and out, it was the NDP MLA in my riding who helped me with my welfare application and working my way through their hoops to recieve benefits. I'm not opposed to their ideas, but I feel their place is as a social conscience and not a government.

So, happy Election Day!

Apology accepted

That didn't take long, did it?

“They all understand that the behaviour of yesterday will not be tolerated by me as leader of this party and it does not reflect who I am as a person and the values that I brought to public life or to those of leading my life in the riding of Annapolis and the community of Annapolis County,”

Well said, Mr. McNeil. Now, let's move on...

Simply tasteless

As fellow Liblogger, BigCityLib, has already stated, I think that it's absolutely childish and tasteless that the Nova Scotia Liberals would be releasing nude pictures of Truro-Bible Hill NDP candidate and actress, Lenore Zann, to the media in an attempt to smear her for some reason.

I like Stephen McNeil, believing him to be the best of the three in terms of who would make the best Premier of Nova Scotia, but this was simply out of order and Mr. McNeil should apologize to both Mr. Dexter and the NDP for the portrayal of their candidate, and to Nova Scotians for stooping to this level.