NDP can learn from Socialist victory in France

Martin Papillon, Opinion, iPolitics:



First, don’t be afraid to assume your party’s roots, and campaign on the left, while keeping a watchful eye on the centre. There is a temptation for progressive parties to dilute their core ideological message in order to attract a more centrist electorate. The problem with a centrist strategy is that it concedes the ideological battlefield to the right, allowing your adversaries to set the agenda on which the election is fought, and, ultimately, define your party. A party with no ideas is not attractive. And it runs the risk of alienating its own base.

Harper’s Conservatives are not afraid of their roots, nor are they hiding their core ideological tenets. While the tone may be softer, even reassuring, during electoral contests, we all know what they stand for: less government, greater reliance on the market, competition over solidarity, punishment over rehabilitation, etc.

Being ideological does not have to mean being radical. It means anchoring your platform in a clear, coherent set of ideas that will resonate with the electorate, including more centrist voters who could lean your way. Under the current political climate in Canada, there is little risk for the NDP in campaigning on a progressive platform, as long as it is perceived as the main, credible, alternative to the Conservatives.

Hollande was not afraid to ruffle some feathers, either. He demonized the greed of a “faceless” financial sector and challenged his future European allies to privilege economic recovery over austerity measures. Hollande campaigned on themes that made sense to the middle class.

There is another lesson the NDP could take from the recent French experience. Sarkozy, like Harper, thrives on conflict. His style is that of a general, not a consensus-builder. France is a divided country today. Workers are pitted against the unemployed, young versus old, minorities against the majority. Hollande capitalized on the fact that the French electorate was exhausted from divisive politics embodied by his adversary. Jack Layton embodied a similar consensual image.

Despite what conservative pundits in Canada and elsewhere may say about François Hollande, he won with a moderate yet substantive progressive platform.

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