News From El Norte

[webfarmer]

With all the buzz about Obama and McCain's race, we Southerners forget that there's a hot race going on up north. It's interesting to see that the newcomer Greens are up to almost double digits.

A Sept 15 poll has it at:

Poll: Canada Conservatives narrowing lead over Liberals - Xinhua - 15 Sep 08

Conservatives 38 percent
Liberals 27 percent
New Democratic Party (NDP) 16 percent
Green Party 9 percent
Bloc Quebecois 8 percent

I wonder how this will sort out in terms of seats when the smoke settles. Seems like I recall that a minority position like the Conservatives still get a disproportionate amount of power. With some form of instant runoff or ranked choice voting, the left would likely be in charge of things up there. 38 < 27+16+9

Comments

[markmc03.livejournal.com]

Lots can change in the remaining four weeks. Now that people are mulling over the possibility of a Conservative victory, they are thinking twice. I've heard recently that someone has even set up a MySpace page where people can swap votes to make sure the left vote isn't split in contentious ridings.

Greens actually stand a good chance of electing a member in my own riding of Vancouver-Centre. The incumbent, Hedy Fry, is less than stellar. The Green candidate was the former provincial leader of the Greens. I just want to make sure the Tory candidate doesn't slip in.

[webfarmer.livejournal.com]

The vote swapping is a great idea. You may recall that in 2000 there were ones that popped up to allow Nader voters in swing states to swap with Democrats in safe states. Unfortunately, there's no way of proving that the swap actually went through. It's all based on trust.

So you're going to be voting Green? :)

Maybe there should be an independent group called the "Left Bloc" that would do their own recommendation on who of the more liberal candidates in a riding should get the nod from progressive types. Something like what was done with the trans-party Non-Partisan League in North Dakota.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non_Partisan_League