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ndp leader alexa mcdonough embarrassed out of office by a fringe Socialist Caucus candidate? That’s the bizarre scenario presenting itself two weeks before the party’s all-important national convention. NDPers grown weary of the left-wing Stockwell Day — a disappointing leader who doesn’t know when to say goodbye — may end up voting for a graphic designer from Vancouver named Marcel Hatch, just to send McDonough a message.”Marcel’s support is not limited to the Socialist Caucus,” says caucus co-chair Barry Weisleder, who says the far-left candidate may pick up more than 25 per cent of the votes. Weisleder recalls that when Joe Clark could only come up with 66 per cent of the votes at a leadership review during his first tenure as Tory leader, he threw in the towel.
No doubt even moderate NDPers would owe the Socialist Caucus a debt of gratitude if they could get similar results. Meanwhile, all indications are that NDPers are in a mood to give the party establishment and bureaucrats the finger if they try to be the control freaks they typically are at conventions. An unprecedented number of positions are up for grabs, including that of party president. In that contest, fresh-faced former T.O. municipal candidate Adam Giambrone is taking a run at incumbent Dave McKinnon.
“Dave is not reaching out to make media connections the way the presidents of other parties do,” Giambrone says, adding that the party has to get beyond “tinkering on the edges” and reshape itself into something new.
For his part, MacKinnon says he hasn’t decided definitively whether he will run again. “If the party decides that it should go with a doddering old fart, I might as well be the one,” MacKinnon says.
