What's in a Name?
Here's an interesting news story an alert reader sent my way today. It appears the Provincial Liberal Party are considering a name change. And, no, "Washington Generals" does not appear to be in the running.
Jokes aside, I have mixed opinions on this. I've long been in favour of a Liberal/NDP merger to create a new Party. I think such a party might have a legitimate shot at challenging the Conservatives. You'd eliminate the vote splitting and erase the stigma surrounding both parties. Let's face it, "Liberal" is a bad word in Alberta. People who weren't born when the NEP was brought in and don't even know what it was still bring it up...and this is during provincial elections. A new name might get us a few votes from Albertans who hate the Conservatives but just can't bring themselves to vote for the Liberal Party.
On the flip side, a lot of life-long Liberals wouldn't like this. I can just hear the voices of party members shouting "I've been a Liberal since Sifton was Premier and have always been proud to be a Liberal and...blah blah blah". So, with this in mind, it's likely not worth the flack it would cause.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this? I'd be curious to hear what Liberals and non-Liberals alike think about this.
Here's an interesting news story an alert reader sent my way today. It appears the Provincial Liberal Party are considering a name change. And, no, "Washington Generals" does not appear to be in the running.
Jokes aside, I have mixed opinions on this. I've long been in favour of a Liberal/NDP merger to create a new Party. I think such a party might have a legitimate shot at challenging the Conservatives. You'd eliminate the vote splitting and erase the stigma surrounding both parties. Let's face it, "Liberal" is a bad word in Alberta. People who weren't born when the NEP was brought in and don't even know what it was still bring it up...and this is during provincial elections. A new name might get us a few votes from Albertans who hate the Conservatives but just can't bring themselves to vote for the Liberal Party.
On the flip side, a lot of life-long Liberals wouldn't like this. I can just hear the voices of party members shouting "I've been a Liberal since Sifton was Premier and have always been proud to be a Liberal and...blah blah blah". So, with this in mind, it's likely not worth the flack it would cause.
Anyone else have any thoughts on this? I'd be curious to hear what Liberals and non-Liberals alike think about this.
posted by calgarygrit at
6:15 p.m.
9 Comments:
Interesting thought about merger. I doubt it would happen, but it's an interesting thought. With more right-wing loony parties cropping up each day, it seems kindof unnecessary if the Liberals can inch the right side of their tent closer to Alberta's political centre.
With regards to the name, the argument I've made on www.gauntlet.ca is that they need to worry about the brand, not the name. We've been electing Ralph for 10 years, not the Progressive Conservative Party.
By
Gauntlet, at 7:11 p.m.
I think the NDP and the Libs should combine/merge and call themselves the Canadian Alliance Party.. thats a sure-fire winner of a name in Alberta
:)
By
Oxford County Liberals, at 8:15 p.m.
"And, no, "Washington Generals" does not appear to be in the running."
... Damn, you stole my joke right off the bat.
But seriously, as someone who's neither Liberal nor Albertan, I'm really not sure it's worth changing the name *unless* it is a real & true merger, or at least involves taking a few non-Lib MLA's along for the ride.
Take SK as an example: if the Sask Tories had simply changed their name to the Sask Party, it probably wouldn't have made a jot of difference; indeed, the fact that all of the then-PC caucus moved over to the Sask Party earned them the "Sask-a-Tory" moniker from Roy Romanow and others. But the fact that a few (Most? I can't recall at the moment) of the sitting Sask Liberals joined in made the change more than cosmetic.
And in any event, a merger, or perhaps even convincing a few Tory MLA's to join in (which seems less likely from outside AB, but who knows ...) would be one thing, but the real issuea to be overcome, once the name is changed,are policy and, as gauntlet suggests, defining the brand.
By
Jason Hickman, at 8:45 p.m.
Here's my take on these ideas:
1) Rebranding is dangerous. I can just see it now. PC TV Adds:
'The Alberta Liberals think that they can change their name and Albertans won't see throught it.
They hide behind a new name because the're afraid that Albertans will find out their secret plans to destroy the surplus by spending their way into a deficit and bring back the NEP.
Premier Lyle Oberg and the Progressive Conservatives are proud Albertans and don't need to trick Albertans into voting for them.
Don't get tricked. Vote PC.'
2) A merger with the ND's would never happen. WAY WAY too much distrust and dare I say it 'hate'.
Plus, you are assuming that the Liberal and ND vote would hold if such a merger would take place. I think having Brian Mason and Raj Pannu in a merged Lib/ND organism could scare off some of the more centre-right libs.
3) The NEP... I feel your pain. It never ever ever ever dies.
Conclusion, I don't think a name change is a good route to take. Distance from the feds is very very advised though.
By
daveberta, at 1:49 a.m.
Being a member of the NDP I've always thought that here in Alberta there should be a merger of the two parties. I wouldn't want to get in bed with the federal Liberals but provincially I think that there's no way to get the PCs out of office (and avoid the Alberta Alliance taking power) anytime soon without a collaboration between the two more left leaning parties. However, I think "NDP" is a dirtier word in this province than "Liberal" so I'm not sure even if both parties merged we would win but I do think that a merger would increase our chances (given that many of the margins aren't that big for a number of ridings).
-Socialist Swine
By
Unknown, at 2:18 a.m.
I think it's kind of sad that the Alberta Party has a better website than the LPCA...
ilovlap: I love the "do you support Alberta?" line.
By
calgarygrit, at 11:22 a.m.
Mr. Reil never ran for the nomination in Stony Plain, but I do remember him saying that he was going to after I asked him if he was going to back in Feb of 2004. So...
By
daveberta, at 1:17 a.m.
Never Happen. The Liberals keep trying to kill off the NDP as oppose to merge. Because of the that the NDP/Liberals shall never meet in this province.
By
Tony Jones!, at 12:07 a.m.
As a former Alberta Liberal (now in Quebec), I think a name change completely misses the boat. The key is to build a credible alternative, and get that message out. The Tories survived despite the Federal party being obliterated in Alberta and the West. Playing with the name is so obviously style over substance that it will actually end up being worse than before - you conceivably lose your core - for example, if I came back, and didn't see "Liberal" on a ballot, I'd probably opt for the NDP...
As to a merger, not only won't it happen, but it shouldn't. There are real philosphical differences between the two parties that I don't think can be papered over, and further I think people have a right to choose between them.
By
Fiddlers' Green, at 1:51 p.m.
Post a Comment
<< Home