Under Margaret Thatcher Labour was in trouble. But they rebuilt and came back. One of the things that brought Labour back was simple but effective. Labour bought bus shelter ads that said direct and focussed things flowing from a carefully thought out policy base.
For example, one ad I remember said "Labour believes in morning milk for all students" (children in school got a glass of milk in the UK).
Very simple. Very practical. And very reflective of a broad and socially inclusive policy that was different from the Conservative view.
The ad worked -- how many bus shelter ads do you remember after twenty years?
I recently spoke to a caucus member who has policy views rather different than mine. In fact, we are about as different as possible while both remaining Liberals.
We spoke of organisation and the need to get out the vote but we both agreed no amount of organisation will get out anyone unless we have policy that motivates voters.
Others have said the same thing -- another MP told me that he needs to give voters a reason beyond "we're not Harper" to vote Liberal.
That's why I am so excited about the next Council of Presidents meeting and its special focus on member engagement and policy creation. That, together with the town halls leading to the Canada at 150 conference, gives us a chance to enuciate the policies that flesh out a Liberal vision. Specifics are being announced on an ongoing basis -- the OLO made some solid announcements in the last month -- but we need an underlying policy base.
We need to be able to give Canadians specific practical reasons to vote Liberal. Reasons that flow naturally from underlying principles.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
www.jmortonmusings.blogspot.com
8 comments:
Membership engagement? If the Liberal Party would truly engage with its members, which it currently does not, I would come back. And I think this is what is REALLY necessary to rebuild the party (engaging the members that is, not me coming back, lol).
I'm not a member of any political party.
I will agree with your message of giving practical reasons to vote Liberal. Stay away from stuff that may seem theoretical (ie. beyond the boundaries of household engagement). Stick with the practical stuff. Have a triple-E policy of household economy, environment, and equality. What practical steps can a Liberal government do to improve a household's economy? As for the environment, a Liberal government could offer tax breaks for households that install solar panels or other energy saving devices. As for equality, what practical things could a Liberal government do to treat citizens equally and create a better community? The milk example that you gave from the UK is a good example of both equality and household economy.
Stay away from Climate Change and other worldly issues. While important, voters will be more concerned about issues that directly affect them every day.
Finally, if Harper is able to get Parliament prorogued, that does not mean that Ignatieff has to be prorogued. He should be front and centre in every Canadian community getting a practical message out to Canadians.
Both good comments and I can only try to get them in force!
Well said.
Best of luck with getting the Party to propose alternatives in the HOC with details.
"Trust us", Harper is wrong never made sense. JC had a book and had many of us believe in a list of promises.
This time the book will need to be much more specific with details how and why electing the LPOC will be different this time.
James, do you remember when the Libs had that online policy thing where we could all vote, etc.? I forget what it was called - "En Famille" maybe? Wasn't that what was supposed to be policy making? Whatever happened to all those ideas & plans? It seems ridiculous to be doing the same thing, again, with a thinkers conference. Less discussion more action is what is needed. You can talk til you are blue in the face but until decisions are made & policy is presented then we've got nothing to present to the people & we will go nowhere which means actually HURTING the people of this country & all we believe in.
En Famille turned into a list of suggestions, some of which were presented before the convention and of those, some of them were approved by the delegates. As far as I know, none of them were ever discussed again.
There's a good chance that the Thinker's Conference will turn into another list of suggestions that will never be brought up again and will most certainly never make it anywhere near the House of Commons. Maybe it'll turn into another session of corporate tax breaks and subsidies accompanied by service cuts. Or maybe it'll be a launching pad for all the reforms and overhauls Canada could use right now.
> Labour believes in morning milk for all students
I remember that, here in Canada, everyone used to get milk in the morning. In the 1/2 pint containers.
I wonder whether they still do that. Probably not... helping kids isn't very much in fashion these days.
What a great resource!
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