The Canadian federal election is Oct 2015 and something unheard of is happening.
Quick background: Normally, we don't give a fig until the writ is dropped and then we electioneer for a month before the poll. BTW, we still mark with pencil on paper ballots. We don't trust electronic voting machines owned by, what else, corporations. Elections belong properly to the public sphere. Anyway, we now have fixed elections, so the darned politicians are bothering us early. Hopefully, we could go back to our old ways after this election (which was to have an election within 5 years if the gov party loses a finance vote or at it's discretion.)
Follow me below the orange voting rights sign for more on our Bernie-like wave.
Presently, we are "governed" by our Conservative Party of PM Stephen Harper, somewhat like the English Tory Party. They have to govern sotto voce here in Canada. One whiff of extremism and we'd be screaming blue murder. They've done a lot of harm on the quiet in the background, like cutting off science funding and muzzling scientists. That probably sounds familiar, eh? Their only public works has been relentless self-promotion.
Our Liberal Party had been Canada's "natural governing party" since confederation. They're like the Democratic Party - neoliberal and corporate-captured - as thoroughly as are the conservatives. Their leader is Justin Trudeau fils. He's "likeable enough," but like Clinton II and Bush III has a dynasty problem. The third party is the NDP, our democratic socialist party, led by the wily Thomas Mulcair. They've traditionally brought up the rear. But lookyhere!
Hah-hah-hah, this was where I was gonna learn how to upload an image! But I'm from the 70s - techie instructions bounce from my eyes like sunshine on a beach - so you'll be reading boring type until my son shows me how :-)
From http://www.threehundredeight.com/...
NDP 32.4% Projected seats 127
Cons 28.9% Projected seats 114
Libs 27.4% Projected seats 93
Two observations:
First, the NPD rise began in the spring with a first-time NDP victory in the province of Alberta, a red conservative bastion, after 40-years of Conservative mismanagement. And it has spread coast to coast at the federal level since then. This is the first time the NDP has led this close to a federal election.
Second, the Conservative Party has largely kept it's core supporters (for now). The NPD's rise appear to come from the Liberals bleeding support. This is where it gets interesting. It shows that the former political "centre" is hollowing out, with Liberal supporters losing faith in laissez-faire capitalism and realizing that voodoo economics is a giant scam for the 1 percent.
Does that sound familiar to Americans? You betcha! The very same phenomenon is playing out in the 2016 Democratic primary races. Democratic Party members, like Canadian Liberals, are opening up to supporting democratic socialism in the form of Bernie Sanders. If the NDP wins in Oct, it would be a good indicator of an unprecedented rising wave in North America as people reject ideological capitalism for pragmatic democratic socialism.
BTW, the NDP colour is orange, like that of DK. Serendipitous, n'est pas? :-)