NDP, Copps go own ways - Toronto Star

[Screaming Lord Byron]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1077664212631&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

OTTAWA—The NDP has closed its doors to Sheila Copps.

In a phone conversation yesterday, NDP MP Alexa McDonough said the Hamilton East MP understood that if she loses her Liberal nomination fight, she won't be welcomed into NDP arms.

She could not be because she'd have no credibility and would be perceived as "damaged goods" — a point Copps has always understood, McDonough said.

"She was clear from the beginning that there was no interest in exploring candidacy with the NDP locally or nationally as some kind of a consolation prize," the Halifax MP said.

Copps has been fighting a nomination battle with Martin supporter Tony Valeri in the new riding of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, which merges both their former ridings.

The former heritage minister has publicly maintained that Paul Martin supporters are trying to push her out of the party.

Probably for the best, I imagine. What will Sheila do if she loses the nomination? I can't see Martin letting her beat Valeri.

[HEyHEY]

1. Too many people dislike her

If she loses it, she'll probably fade off to whatever Island Kim Campbell and Stockwell Day went to.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

2. Can she continue on in the Liberal Party now, after flirting with the NDP?

If the NDP had an MP who kept flirting with the Grits, what do you think we would do?

[HEyHEY]

3. They'd be nailed to the cross

Remember Gordon WIlson in BC? He had his own party and everyone loved him and he was elected. Then he went to the NDP and lost his seat. People don't like flip floppers. Unless it's quebec. They didn't seem to mind Charest kicking around.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

4. Yeah. Turncoats are rarely succesful or effective.

[HEyHEY]

5. Well it reveals they are just in it for the job

And don't have beliefes they care about. Plus what ticks me off...is when you vote someone in and they switch parties...WTF. THey weren't voted in with that party, that's not what voters wanted...it's bullshit

[Screaming Lord Byron]

6. The tradition always was that if you changed parties you resigned the seat

that way the electorate could confirm your choice in a by-election. I think we should make that mandatory.

[Minstrel Boy]

7. And if she beats Valeri, what then?

She'll be shunted to the nethermost reaches of the Liberal backbench, from whence, if she continues sniping at Martin, she'll be booted out of caucus. That seems like a fairly hollow prize.

And if she loses the nomination but wins the election as an independent a la John Nunziata, she'll be as effective as, well, John Nunziata.

I think I'm disappointed she won't run for the NDP, but she did bring considerable baggage. (And I was haunted by the prospect of, down the road, the inevitable Sheila Copps leadership campaign.) And if I had been that impressed by her and her positions over the years, I suppose I'd have been a Liberal rather a New Democrat.

A bigger prize than Sheila is the Copps-ish wing of the Liberal Party, which isn't confined to the east end of Hamilton.

[Screaming Lord Byron]

8. I also have mixed emotions.

The real best outcome for the NDP would be for Copps to lose and run as an independent candidate. That would split the Liberal vote in the riding. I keep coming back to the question - can Martin afford to let Copps beat Valeri?