I’ve never identified myself as a party person, I never have, and don’t plan to ever be a card carrying member of a political party. I like to keep my options open.

That said, in the upcoming election it seems that my choice is clear. Unfortunately, for many, they vote according to what they don’t want instead of what they do want. And to me that’s simply the wrong mode of thinking.
I can certainly frame my vote in that way:

Even if I wanted to vote for the Bloc, I can’t.-I’m in BC
Even if I wanted to vote for the Liberals, I can’t.-How can I support an obviously corrupt establishment.
Even if I wanted to vote for the Conservations, I can’t.- Because I just can’t imagine ever having enough in common!

That said though, I’m not voting for the NDP because of negatives… I’m voting because they seem to represent the only positive. It is they who represent everything that Canadians really seem to value in this country. Universal Healthcare, access to a good Education, Social Security, Multi-culturalism, defense of Human Rights and the fight for National Daycare… which is still yet to be created, but without the NDP giving it a push in this minority government, we wouldn’t be talking about it.

Hey, Jack Layton is the only one of the 4 leaders who passes the beer test. Can you imagine sitting down with Steven Harper for a Lucky? What about Gilles Duceppe and a Guiness? Or Paul and a Canadian? No, only Jack has that lets-go-out-and-get-hammered quality.

But again, it’s not really about Jack Layton.. it’s about voting for a party that represents a positive attitude. Too much in politics today is negativity. Too much is about how bad the other guy is rather than how good you are.

That’s why I think Jack Layton has played these post-desperation-plea-Liberals absolutely perfectly… and I think it’s going to strike a chord with many left-leaning Canadians. He is presenting the only positive option. While it has been presented as an ultimatum of sorts for the Liberals it is still the only option any party is giving to actually move forward and govern rather than go directly into an election that very few people, including me, want.

It seems to me that the NDP is the only party willing to defend its’ beliefs and advance those beliefs in the name of governance rather than politicking.

That is why I’m voting for NDP… not because they are going to save the environment or tax the hell out of corporations. It’s because they are willing to say “this isn’t good enough”. For now the Canadian people deserve a government that lasts over the summer. They certainly deserve a budget for the 05/06 year. Later, they deserve a government that is both representative of their values and stable. Right now, they have nothing except negative-billing-politics, uncertainty and corruption.

When the inevitable does happen… Vote NDP.

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