famousringo said:
I don't think we'll see a merger. The Liberals are a proud party with an ancient history of power that attracts a lot of ambitious people disinclined to share power. They've been humiliated, but not like the Progressive Conservatives' crushing defeat of '93 or the Bloc last night. The centre has been deflated, but not fractured. @ Mrstickball I don't think your facts refute my point. When I use the word 'tectonic,' I mean the trend is broad, and it is gradual. You show me historical data which shows that all three major parties have shifted one unit to the right in a single election cycle. That's exactly the trend I'm talking about, and it's been advancing since the early 80s. I'll admit I was being a little tongue in cheek when I called the Cons the 'extreme right.' My point was roughly the same as pearljammer's: If the NDP is a radical fringe party, so are the Conservatives. The fact is that a lot of leftist parties moved hard towards the center in the 90s, tempering ideas of social responsibility with ideas of fiscal responsibility. The results were very successful for the Romanow and Doer provincial governments here in Canada, and Blair's New Labour movement in the UK. |
It's worth noting though...that almost all politicians reside in that upwards right block.
