The old left and the Canadian election

For an interesting conservative take on the Canadian election (and its historical consequences), see my friend Pieter Dorsman over at Peaktalk. Pieter focuses on the realignment of the left and believes that "the 'old left' in general... will be dealt a blow of historically significant proportions". This essentially means Canada's labour movement and the old New Democrats, Canada's mainstream socialist party, for Pieter praises the new New Democrats, Jack Layton's New Democrats, for running "a surprisingly centrist campaign," indeed, "a positive and palatable campaign".

But don't look for Jack Layton's NDP to follow in the footsteps of Tony Blair's Labour. The NDP is traditionally Canada's third party. It's true that it's running a more centrist campaign than usual, but its poll numbers still hover at around 20 percent, often down around 16-17 percent, and its "success" owes as much to Liberal unpopularity and incompetence (and voter fatigue after well over a decade of Liberal rule) as to a more appealing platform.

(Pieter also has more on Michael Ignatieff.)

My most recent analysis of the Canadian election is here.