I don't want to hear any whining about Vote Splitting

This blog has been quiet for the last couple of days as I was too busy working on the election campaign here in Saskatchewan.

Stephen Moore, the NDP candidate against Ralph Goodale put up a hell of a fight and exceeded expectations by a fair margin. The problem is that New Democrats in Wascana vote for Goodale.

But, is that a problem?

From a raw partisan perspective, yes. From the larger picture of stopping Harper and the Conservatives? Not so much I guess.

But what annoys the hell out of me is the continual Liberal whining about vote-splitting.

Typical headline:

Liberals blame vote-splitting

Liberals in Regina (other than Goodale) put out piece after piece saying that the only way to stop Harper in Saskatchewan was to vote Liberal, even thought everyone (including the Liberals who produced and distributed those flyers) knew that the NDP would place second in almost every seat in Saskatchewan (and in one case, second by a less than 300 votes).

For the Liberals, "strategic voting" means "voting for the Liberals."

And yet they then have the nerve to turn around and whine and complain that all the votes cast for the NDP were votes cast for Harper?

Bullshit.

Everyone who cast a vote in this election (for those few that did) voted for the party and the representative that they wanted. In Wascana, more people wanted Ralph Goodale and so they voted for him. He earned those votes for whatever reason, (they liked him, they wanted to stop Harper)

And the Liberal and Green candidates in Saskatoon Rosetown Biggar earned their votes to, and the NDP candidate did not earn enough (barely) to win the seat.

Is that the Liberals and Greens fault? No. It is the CONSERVATIVE VOTERS that gave that seat to the conservatives - not the Green and Liberal voters.

But I guarantee you this, the Liberals are licking their wounds now and talking about working with the NDP and all that but when push comes to shove, they will blame us for this loss, just like they still blame us for the loss of the Martin government.

Because Liberals believe that they have a divine right to govern.

They DESERVE votes because they just do. And if a citizen has the nerve to vote for a different party on the "left" (particularly when they feal the Liberals aren't doing a good job or representing the left) then the evil NDP have clearly tricked that voter into voting against the Liberals, because lord knows they are SUPPOSED to vote for the Liberals.

Quote from this morning:

---

"I think under any scenario where we lose seats, Dion must go," said a party strategist who has worked with Mr. Dion and his two predecessors.

Another long-time Liberal said last night: "it will be tough for him to have the ... authority to lead. We are the natural governing party."

---

Enough.

In places where vote-splitting elected a Conservative member, then the fault lies with the conservative voters, not the voters on the other side. The NDP should continue to convince voters that they are the best alternative to Stephen Harper and when they fall short (like in Rosetown Bigger) they should pick themselves up and try again.

That's what a party that has a vision and principles does.

We don't sit around and whine that we deserved a seat and it is the other parties fault we didn't get it.