Yesterday was election day in British Columbia. Many of you will read in the papers that the Liberals won an unprecedented second term as the majority party while the NDP made a remarkable comeback from two seats after the 2001 election to 33 today. The real story, however, is that the BC Greens managed to draw enough left-of-center votes to deliver that majority to Gordon Campbell on a silver platter with a big wet kiss.
As I predicted in my previous diary, the progressive split between the Greens and the NDP was the direct cause of the Liberal victory. The Liberals managed to pull 46% of the popular vote while the NDP picked up 43% and the Greens siphoned off 9%. This was better than in 2001, when the Greens managed to convince over 20% of the electorate to waste their vote.
More screed below the fold...
Screw you, Greens, for condemning the people of British Columbia to another 4-5 years of corporate rule. Your addled leader, Adrian Carr, could not even win her own riding, pulling only 26% of the vote. The Greens have never won a seat in the Legislature, but they managed to cost the NDP over 10 seats, and control of the government, in this election by splitting the vote. They even managed to save Gordon Campbell's sorry ass in his own riding, where he lost the popular vote but squeaked through on the backs of Green-voting idiots.
Despite having a leader with zero legislative experience, a 2:1 money disadvantage, an insipid campaign, and a corporate press that refused to question the Dear Leader while excoriating Carole James, the NDP managed to exceed even their own expectations, taking back virtually all of Vancouver Island and most of the ridings in Vancouver, Burnaby, and Surrey. My own riding of North Island went easily to NDP candidate Claire Trevena of Quadra Island. Four Liberal Ministers were defeated as well as many Campbell cronies.
The lesson here for americans is DON'T SPLIT THE VOTE! Single-issue parties are the hemlock of politics and should be stomped out of existence as soon as they stick their pointy little heads up out of the cesspool. The Greens had a voice and were listened to when the NDP ran the government. Parks were created. Forest management and logging practices were completely reformed with a careful eye on the environment. A moratorium was placed on fish farming while the science was developed. Automotive pollution regulation was addressed through the formation of AirCare. The Greens have gotten nothing from the Liberals except the dissolution of the Environment Ministry and the turning over of forest practice supervision to the timber companies. And as a reward for turning over the environment to the very corporations that are savaging them, the Greens made sure the Liberals could continue their fine work. I mean, how fucking stupid are you people?