Revolutionary Moderation

Many more of me, a whole lot less of you

Canadians want a majority government, a new poll says. That sort of attitude has spelled doom for the NDP in post-minority elections in the past, as the faithful rush to organize the vote around one of the big two.

This time around, I'm not nearly so sure. Bottom line, we all know the BQ is taking somewhere in the range of sixty seats out of play. To create a majority, a party would have to win 155 out of the remaining 248 seats, which is... let's see, carry the six... not going to happen.

So, yes, we Canadians love our term-certain dictatorships. We're friends of authority. We'd all love a majority government. Just, you know, not those other guys. My guys. And knowing that a majority is going to be nearly impossible to achieve, NDP supporters will reflect on the spring budget, and decide to stay exactly where they are. Might even bring a few "strategic" voters back.

(Do I mock strategic voters with my dismissive quotation marks? Nonsense. There is a correct way to vote strategically. Every time I say this, I get to have fun conversations with fellow New Democrats. And no wonder the NDP gets frustrated by it - few Canadians are strategic voters. But many are "strategic" voters. "Strategic" voters cost any number of NDP seats in Saskatchewan and the Lower Mainland. My guide to proper, thoughtful strategic voting will come.)