Please Advise! Can Avi Lewis Save the NDP?

[Editor’s note: Steve Burgess is an accredited spin doctor with a PhD in Centrifugal Rhetoric from the University of SASE, situated on the lovely campus of PO Box 7650, Cayman Islands. In this space he dispenses PR advice to politicians, the rich and famous, the troubled and well-heeled, the wealthy and gullible.]

Dear Dr. Steve,

This weekend the federal NDP chose Avi Lewis as their new leader on the first ballot, with 56 per cent of the vote. Edmonton Strathcona MP Heather McPherson was second with 29 per cent. Campbell River city councillor and Indigenous activist Tanille Johnston was third.

Do you think they chose well?

Signed,

Dipper

Dear Dipper,

New Democrats do not like to position themselves as capitalists. Certainly, newly elected federal party leader Avi Lewis, husband of Naomi Klein and avowed foe of predatory private enterprise, would never attach that label to himself. Yet if there is one rule that shrewd financial speculators live by it is: Buy low, sell high. Overtly or not, Lewis has adopted that strategy and now hopes to profit.

On Friday headlines declared that party members would “descend on Winnipeg,” with “descend” being le mot juste. Variations of that word have plagued the party lately. In terms of branding, party signs should probably read “SNDP,” to include the frequent prefix “struggling.”

Manitoba NDP Premier Wab Kinew, recently ranked No. 1 in popularity among provincial premiers, was the convention’s genial host. How rude. It’s like Connor McDavid showing up at your beer-league hockey game, just as a friendly reminder of how much you suck. With the federal NDP seeking to carve out a niche in the court of King Carney, it must be painful to visit the alternate universe ruled by King Kinew.

Candidates made their final pitches on Saturday, which is standard procedure for conventions. But in an age of advance voting, it's a bit of an anachronism too. Most of the balloting was already complete. The Saturday speeches were like adding a Christmas Eve postscript to your Santa Claus letter. The sack’s already packed and the sleigh is airborne, kid — at this point you’re getting what you’re getting.

It was Lewis who had victory in the bag. His triumph over second-place finisher McPherson brings up another label the NDP wants nothing to do with: separatist.

Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi greeted Lewis’s win with this statement: “The direction of the federal party under this new leader who openly cheered for the defeat of the Alberta NDP government, is not in the interests of Alberta.”

Give Premier Danielle Smith some credit — at least she's calling for a referendum.

The Alberta NDP just straight up dropped the guillotine. The schism highlights the challenge McPherson faced in the leadership contest. She may have been the only sitting MP in the race, but as an Albertan — well, you might as well show up at a Greenpeace rally in an Oilers jersey.

Lewis is a third-generation party leader — grandfather David was federal NDP head and father Stephen led the Ontario party. Even the Trudeaus can’t match that — it’s more like the Tudors.

Want more uncomfortable parallels? How about choosing a leader who made his name on TV? To the illustrious list headed by the likes of Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth and Jeanine Pirro, you can add former MuchMusic VJ and CounterSpin host Lewis. The Friendly Giant and Mr. Dressup left us too soon.

Oddly, though, the TV glamour thing seems not to have been a major factor. A pre-convention poll showed 44 per cent of current and former NDP voters did not recognize any of the candidates. That includes Lewis, McPherson and Second from the Left in a Straw Hat (Tony McQuail, for the record). The new leader will have to start raising his profile. Perhaps he could guest on The Joe Rogan Experience. It’s a proven tactic. And Rogan endorsed Trump, so maybe he likes orange.

As far as the NDP caucus is concerned, Lewis will be the absentee landlord of a small rooming house. He says there’s no hurry in chasing a seat. And there do not appear to be any seats chasing him. The NDP have fewer safe seats than a tin roller-coaster. Unlike TV star Trump, who managed to take office in 2016 despite losing the popular vote, Lewis cannot take advantage of a screwball electoral college. Besides, last year in Vancouver Centre, Lewis finished third. Even fraud wouldn't have helped.

Under Lewis the NDP will definitely have a clear identity — an unapologetic activist and co-author of the Leap Manifesto whose acceptance speech referenced genocide in Gaza, he is never likely to be called Carney Lite.

And like a canny stockbroker, he is buying low. For the federal NDP, there is nowhere to go but up.

Except perhaps the yawning abyss of complete oblivion. There’s still that.