The Hook

Harcourt

is he really the guy you want an endorsement from on this?

Beat to punch by 2 BC Liberals

Support from a former Premier is just that. The armchair pundits here are getting rather sad in their comments these days.

It would be funny if it were not so sad, how the official opposition warrants more criticism that the hated BC Liberals. Go figure!

BC Liberals are guaranteed a rebound!

With all of the BS going on with the BCNDP, the BC Liberals are certainly going to rebound, even with Campbell as leader.

Soon, the people will forget about being misled by the anti-HST movement and come to their senses.

The Recall campaigns will fail, as they should.

British Columbians petitioned a legislative committee to either bring the issue before the entire legislature or hold a non-binding referendum.

Our gallant leader chose to go directly to the people, and he is willing to let the results fall or win with just a bare majority of the valid votes cast; talk about democracy in action.

Will the NDP firmly commit to abolishing the HST? If so, what will replace it? Would a resurrected PST be exempted from restaurants and other services?

Shame on the NDP for crawling into bed with VanderZalm and the right! The NDP is supposed to be above that, or is it?

What is the NDP's secret agenda?

The socialist whores are truly at the gates.

I, for one, am fully supportive of what leadership the Campbell Liberals have given us.

I despise the legacy of Mike Milk-toast Harcourt did to this province: Glen Clark as Finance Minister and the environmental catastrophe which led to the rise of the Green Party.

Gordon Campbell is an

Gordon Campbell is an environmental catastrophe, and Mike Harcourt was the last decent premier we have had. Unfortunately, Carole James is no Harcourt. Mike actually used to listen to and respect rank and file party members who were involved in policy making. Carole listens to noone but her inner circle and tells the rest of us to like it or lump it. Too bad her "tough gal" act is seen only when she is chastising her own team members for speaking their minds! If she was half as tough on the real issues she might be premier now; as it is she is ensuring the rift in the party becomes wider.
The thing none of her supporters get is that they cannot force the dissidents to work for the party and the NDP can't win without us. The lapsed memberships over the past ten years include a disproportionate number of community activists and others who have worked in all capacities on many campaigns. As Ujjal Dosanjh discovered, if the party pisses us off enough we will just sit home and watch it on TV.
The only reason I would rejoin the party right now is to vote against James in a leadership review - though I put most of the blame the inner circle and the likes of Moe Sihota and can't see things improving until the whole top down nature of the party changes! This will require much more participation by rank and file members, which is exactly what the party brass has been discouraging since the mid nineties!

Nice to know Carol is

Nice to know Carol is listening to some people who actually managed to win an election.

A nice three-day break, and a good chat.

Ms. James later said Mr. Simpson was fired for actions that marked him as a dissident. But the fact that she made her decision without consulting the other New Democratic MLAs was the subject of a heated debate this week when her 34-member caucus met for a three-day retreat.

“Norm felt that what Bob did was wrong, but he questioned the discipline that needed to be there,” she said. “People had a good debate around the issue of Mr. Simpson; it’s not an easy issue for anyone including me… but that’s a decision that I stand by.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-ndp-faces-crisis-of-leadership/article1759279/

Norm felt that Carole was right, and then he quit. Then they all got together and had a good mass debate. No more dissent. Mike agrees; “What I've said to Carole is 'you're on the right path,' so the same message goes through to everyone else in the NDP,”.

Just like the good old days; Moe, David, Mike, etc. From now on all the dissenters will be quiet.

MSM loves James

Notice how all the folks that were big Campbell supporters in the last election like Harcourt, Palmer, Baldry, CKNW etc are now big fans of Carole James. They know that they can run the town dogcatcher even Gordo against her anytime and win.

She is their biggest weapon in the upcoming recall battle, so distasteful is this woman to the electorate.

BCNDP up 25% on BC Libs

BCNDP 49%, BCLibs 24% Angus Reid, October 15. I reckon that's about 75 seats to 10 if an election were held today.

But I'm sure the Simpson leadership team will find something to criticize, some way to show this is a sign of failure.

Give your heads a shake.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Support+Gordon+Campbell+hits+rock+bottom/3680378/story.html

Mulroney Territory

Campbell is in Mulroney territory now and is dragging his party down but he will not be around by 2013, and the point Simpson made is that waiting while the Liars self destruct isn't good enough.
The worst thing that ever happened to the NDP was winning in 1996 because it made Sihota, Clark and their cronies so arrogant and overconfident that it led to the 2001 disaster and the disenchantment of the NDP membership.
Negative public reaction to Campbell's phoney "just folks" act, far more than the appeal of Clark, caused that 1996 election result, and if the same happened again in 2013 it might be just as bad for the party as it was then as the elitists will be taking all the credit and running the show in the same style as Clark.

That won't happen, because Gordo will be sacrificed for the good of the Liars, and the sins of his government will be said to have been cleansed by his disappearance from the scene. It worked for the Socreds when they resurrected the Zalm in 1986 and presented him as a "new, improved, kinder and gentler" Zalmer. As disgusted as they were with Billy Bandit, the public bought the "Fresh Start" BS and reelected the Socreds!

More poll numbers

archer 2006: here's the part of the poll you didn't mention:

The poll also shows that the electorate remains uneasy with NDP leader Carole James. While her party enjoys a huge lead with the support of nearly half of British Columbians, the poll found, her own approval rating lags far behind her party’s at 27 per cent.

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Support+Gordon+Campbell+hits+rock+bottom/3680378/story.html#ixzz12XoK6xgz

"This is James’s third

"This is James’s third chance to redefine herself in the way she wants to be seen — and not let the Liberals define her as someone following in the footsteps of Glen Clark."

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Support+Gordon+Campbell+hits+rock+bottom/3680378/story.html#ixzz12XpbKJUd

What better way for James to distance herself from Clark's government and the old guard than to rely on Moe Sihota as a key advisor?

In a voluntary organization,

In a voluntary organization, based on democratic principles, any member has the right to criticize the actions of any leader, or elected official, as individuals.

To the best of my knowledge, Bob Simpson criticized individuals, regardless of their position, and not the principles and ideals the NDP is supposed to stand for, therefore he was within his rights and not those who threw a tantrum over his few mild words.

Especially in a party with "Democratic" in it name.

I remember when Harcourt hired a fleet of helicopters to fly the media to some mountain top to make some environmental announcement and when he dawdled and fooled around with the Nanaimo scandal, instead of going after the culprits.

His endorsement of anybody is a very weak noodle in the scheme of things.

Ed Deak.

Gidget

"Gidget", an acronym of "girl" and "midget" is the name of a fictional character. Which puts the above article written by this character in its proper context. A small mind detached from reality.

No wonder she supports

No wonder she supports Campbell and the owners of the Reform/CRAPP/BCLiberal branch.

Ed Deak.

"James has been taking

"James has been taking opportunities to engage people on the economy, education, health care and open government,"
Of course NDP supports health care, education, open government (when we aren't it).

The economy. Everyone talks about it. Without really nailing what we really want/need/mean. The focus should go to the "society" we want. SHould it include continued poverty? If not, where's the NDP strategy to eliminate it? Should it include greater inclusiveness and equality? Where are the tax proposals to accomplish this? SHould it continue the subsidies to businesses (oil, gas, private power,....)? If not, let the Leader speak unequivocally.

Where is the environment in Harcourt's list? or James's concerns? It isn't as if there aren't a lot of green votes!!

NDP will never secure block "business" support. We will win only when the right wingers can't agree on who to support. (NDP wins based on unscrupulous distortions of the facts are self-defeating.) Where have Obama's efforts to embrace all views landed him?

It takes a lot of time and energy to work out visions and policies. this cannot be done in the months leading up to an election. The election period is when extra emphasis goes on how to sell the policy package -- not make it up.

Campbell knows that. He does what he intends, but electioneers on the basis of what he thinks people want to hear. Now the public knows the man, he'll bow out, leaving the NDP to confront someone new with pizazz (Carole T or Diane) in May (sept?) 2013.

Does NDP need a leadership review? The caucus doesn't seem to be overflowing with candidates who would do better than James at her wishy-washy narrowly political game. Is what what we want? Could she develop more respect for substance and get to work? Or must the party look elsewhere for effective leadership with a more vision- and policy-engaged alternative? Is there time? Bad choices all round.

Sad choices.