Thursday, June 11, 2009

Will Jack change his name to Barrack too?

Victoria NDP MP Denise Savoie wants her party to consider a name change.

Victoria MP Denise Savoie told reporters earlier this week the 48-year-old party needs a name makeover.

"Our party was born in 1961 -- we're not new," said Ms, Savoie.

The name change is expected to be debated at the party's national convention, scheduled for mid-August in Halifax.

"The New Democrats have brought a lot to Canadian politics," Ms. Savoie said. "But we want to look forward to new challenges and see what we can do in the future."

I wonder if Denise watches Family Guy, because this reminds me of one of their cut-outs, to a Jerry Seinfeld as court-jester stand-up joke:

Good to be here in New England. And what's the deal with "New" England anyway? It's over 200 years old! Last time I checked, that's not that new.

But hmm, drop the New from New Democratic Party? Why, that would leave...

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9 comments:

Ian said...

I have to agree with you on this one. I don't see a point in a name change, and seeing as the NDP tends to veer left of the American Democrats (usually), I don't really support them having the same.

On argument I saw was that there are lots of Democratic Parties world wide, however, most of those countries aren't watching 90% of their media from the USA.

Perhaps we Dippers should re-invigorate the NDP and rename it the New New Democratic Party.

FederalPapers said...

The Democrats in the US are right of the Conservative Party. The NDP would be lucky to obtain Nader like status in the US political spectrum.

Oxford County Liberals said...

Why not call it the Social Democratic Party? Plenty of those worldwide, and that's an accurate term of what the NDP is.. so why not?

Spudster said...

I can see the point for a name change in that the word "NDP" is heavily demonized. It's like the Liberal party in Alberta, the name is holding them back from being successful.

With the success of Barack Obama, being called the "Democrats" could actually be a smart move. Many young people who watch American politics more closely than ours could really respond positively to the name change, plus, the word Democrats is not demonized here like "NDP" or "Liberal" are here.

Northern BC Dipper said...

Well, why not?

Let's face it the New Democratic Party is the 2nd oldest party in Canada right now.

Might as well acknowledge our longevity and success.

Well that and getting rid of the "new" will lead us out of this acronym hell that the New Democrats live in. What other political party in Canada is referred to as a acronym?

Anonymous said...

I'm with Scott on this one. I would support a change to the Social Democratic Party because it would actually describe the political ideology that our party represents.

Brian A said...

I'm with Scott there that "Social Democratic Party" seems the most appropriate name change, since that's what they are anyway.

Jeff said...

Social Democratic Party would certainly be accurate, but I'd be weary of Social being spun as Socialist, a word which has come to have fairly negative connotations with many. You can try to reclaim it, but that would be an ambitious project to be sure.

As for "Democratic Party" I think that would be seen as a fairly transparent attempt to hop on the Obama bandwagon. I know I'd have fun making light of such a name change.

Why not go retro, and rebrand as the CCF? :)

Northern BC Dipper said...

The thing with "Social Democratic Party" is that:

1) Few non-politically interested people in Canada know what the term means;

2) It is a ideologically limiting name, especially in a party in which quite a few don't identify as Social Democrats;

3) It leaves the New Democrats in acronym hell.

And I'm saying this as somebody who self-identifies as a Social Democrat.

As for "Democratic Party" I think that would be seen as a fairly transparent attempt to hop on the Obama bandwagon. I know I'd have fun making light of such a name change.

But you see, you'd have to be an idiot to rename a political party for short-term gain (it costs lots of money, political opponents make fun of it, and Obama isn't going to last forever); it's entirely a gambit to position a party for gains in the future. In the long term, I can see benefits with using K.I.S.S. branding.