Well folks, there are ass-kickings and then there are ass-kickings. And this is obviously one of the more impressive ones in Newfoundland history. Even the limited success I had forecasted for the opposition parties proved to be generous. I said it would be 40 PCs, 5 Liberals and 2 NDP. Instead we get 43 PCs, 3 Liberals and 1 NDP. And let's be honest, once they hold the special by-election out in central in November, the Tories will have 44 seats. Because if you're voting in a few weeks time, are you going to vote for a decimated opposition or the people who just did the decimating?
Yeah, that's pretty much a no-brainer.
This was pretty much a horror show to watch all evening. It wasn't just the low voter turnout. It wasn't just the fact there were precious few close races. Most of the Tory victors won by not just comfortable margins, but humiliating ones. There were times this evening where I wanted to just walk around the province with a gun and put Liberal candidates out of their misery. It was just the humane thing to do.
No, there's kind of something sad about watching democracy in the province be absolutely dead in Newfoundland and Labrador for the next four years. Oh sure, the arguments are there - democracy just happened. The majority of people in the province went out and voted and nearly 70 per cent of them choose Danny Williams party. That's democracy. The results might not always be pretty or smart, but they are what they are.
And it's hard to blame most people for voting the way they did. The NDP were only competitive in three seats. The Liberals were resorting to throwing warm bodies into some districts just to have a name on the ballot.
Still, there are four opposition members. The NDP may or may not keep their party status. I hope they do, just so they can keep some of their resources and give the opposition a bit of a hope in hell of doing their job. But the people of the province essentially just gave the Tories, and more specifically Danny Williams, free reign of the province. It should be interesting to see what he does with it.
Dear god, the next four years are going to be deeply weird.
By the way, while I appreciate Gerry Reid is deeply hurting this evening, having lost by only a handful of votes and having watch Williams slaughter the party he led like fattened cattle, he'll be glad for it in a few days. Once the pain eases a bit, he'll realize the pain of this evening will be much easier to bear rather than the pain of sitting in the House of Assembly for the next four years with Williams sitting across from him, smug and taunting (the premier is many things. A gracious winner is one of those things he's still working on).
It's roughly the difference between ripping off a band aid and fighting cancer for the next four years. Trust me, Reid will gladly take the band aid in a few days.
sigh...It's a good night to be a Tory. But I wonder if we won't all regret this evening, like a bad one night stand where you get herpes, in a few years time. I don't begrudge the win. But the scope of it is ridiculous. Nothing good can come form an opposition this small.
5 comments:
Allow me to tell you a story.
Once upon a time, not too long ago... there was a little island by the name of PEI, that liked to elect Conservative provincial reps.
So much so that one year, every single body in the provincial legislature wore blue.
Except for one. A one, Ronny MacKinley.
And he had to carry the opposition on his back (luckily he was not exactly a slight fellow).
Eventually it got to be too much, and Ronny threw a chair in the legislature. It was sad.
The end
Allow me to tell you a story.
Once upon a time, not too long ago... there was a little island and Labrador by the name of Newfoundland and Labrador, that liked to elect Liberal provincial reps.
So much so that one year, every single body in the provincial legislature wore red.
Except for three. They wore blue.
And during the life of this legislature, the Come-by-Chance oil refinery and Churchill Falls deals were inked.
The end
ignorance of basic economic fundamentals
Would that be kinda like the current office-holder who has spouted some nonsense about how every public-sector job creates 3 or 4 spinoff jobs?
You want to know what would constitute an even worse horror show? John Efford leading the Provincial Liberals.
I would like to make an appeal, or even beg that Efford not get the nod to lead the provincial Liberals. The Liberal party needs fresh faces, new blood and new ideas.
John, give it up man, sail around on your boat, catch a few cod (legally of course) or even try your hand at a music career, but for all our sakes stay the hell out of provincial politics.
For the record, I agree. Efford coming back would be terrible. His days of being respected in the province are gone. Federal politics did that to him.
And yes, fresh young blood is what the vampires, I mean, the Liberals, need. But it's not going to happen. No one wants to step into the breach while Danny is there. Barring some total meltdown, the Liberals will not win a provincial election until 2015.
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