Campaign message lacked bite: NDP
The NDP’s last federal election campaign lacked a strong and simple narrative to grab the attention of voters thirsty for change, say interim findings unearthed during a painful postmortem.
As the Liberals campaigned on “real change,” the NDP presented “cautious change” that was out of sync with people’s desire for a dramatic break from the Conservatives, according to a note distributed Tuesday by party president Rebecca Blaikie.
“Our balanced budget pledge was, in part, responsible for presenting us as cautious change,” Blaikie’s note said. “It allowed the Liberals to contrast themselves from the Conservatives more clearly and overshadowed our strongly progressive economic platform which included higher taxes on corporations, crackdown on tax havens and a federal minimum wage.”
The New Democrats — once poised to replace the Conservative government and now reduced to thirdparty status in the House of Commons — are going through an uncomfortable examination of what went wrong during the longest federal election campaign in modern history.
The review needs to take an unbiased look at what happened, Blaikie said.
Blaikie and eight other members of a working group, including former Ottawa MP Paul Dewar, have also heard the NDP’s platform received positive reviews but its launch failed to highlight how these ideas could help people.
The platform release also came late in the campaign, Blaikie’s memo added.
Other factors, including strategic voting campaigns, media coverage and the length of the campaign were flagged by many supporters in post-election discussions.
Blaikie and the committee are expected to release their final report in March, ahead of the NDP’s convention in Edmonton in April.
That’s where Tom Mulcair will learn if he has enough support to stay at the helm of the party.
Mulcair has said he plans to stay on as leader as long as he is convinced the NDP can form a government and put its ideas into action.
Blaikie said her group has also heard from supporters about the NDP’s successes in addition to its disappointments.
“Many have told us that they were proud of their local campaigns and deeply respected their local candidates,” she said. “We ran our strongest ground game in history and raised more money than ever before.”
OUR BALANCED BUDGET PLEDGE ... ALLOWED
THE LIBERALS TO CONTRAST THEMSELVES
FROM THE CONSERVATIVES MORE CLEARLY.
— NDP PARTY PRESIDENT REBECCA BLAIKIE