A Crisis of Leadership: Reflections on the recent Ontario election

Disclaimer: I know that hindsight is 20/20.  What I'm writing here is actually (believe it or not) what I was saying privately during the election and still hold to now.

The fact of the matter is, I didn't support much of the NDP's recent platform.  I find the obsession with minor issues (ATM fees, etc.) to be slightly ridiculous, as well as ineffectual in terms of significant, impactful, policy decisions that would reverse, stem, or quell the "neo-liberal" turn.

With that out there, I also am aware (painfully so at times) that I am not the average elector.  I am extremely over-educated and one could argue my leftist principles and preferences reflect a certain privilege (even if those views are also shared and held by many without said privilege).

More than that, I also realize that politics, especially the specific variety practiced in North America, is a very strange beast.  I know that it doesn't run on logic nor even on appearances.  It is extremely difficult thing to "get" - and I've seen die-hard idealists and realists read elections and outcomes in absolutely opposed and sometimes absolutely identical ways - and both be wrong.

All this is to say that while its hard to say I respect Canadian politics, I respect that I do not *know* how to read it very well.  And that, combined with my experience of a left politics that has lost all sense of solidarity and trust, I am often dismayed by the left-on-left criticism that is displayed during the mere 30 days of an average electoral campaign.

In the case of this recent election, the "open letter" by the Toronto left elite condemning Horwath seemed to me like a plot straight out of the Liberal playbook.  How could these intelligent people not see that their outcry could have no real benefit on leftist fortunes?

I am honestly unsure.  The fact of the matter remains that left parties are experiencing a crisis of leadership - a crisis that is not contingent on any particular leader but on the idea of leadership itself.  The hubris of left intellectuals is so great that they refuse *ever* to be yolked to a leader who potentially or actually diverts from their individualized vision of the party.  These people have neither the patience nor the forsight to direct their criticism where it belongs (at convention) and instead openly work to destroy the party to which they belong.

In my view, Andrea Horwath asked us for her trust for 30 days to do what she's been elected to do: lead.  She chose, as elected leader, to try a strategy of peculiar centrist populism.  Whatever the outcome (and an increase in seats and total vote share may, arguably, dictate she was successful), we owed her our allegiance, our solidarity, and even our silence - if only for 30 days.

Now, I'm afraid it truly is impossible to judge the outcome of the NDP because it is difficult to separate the leadership of Horwath from the sabotage of some members.  Had Horwath had our faith, and failed, the outcome would be obvious (as it was, with Hudak).  Instead, I'm left confused.  Should she resign over this outcome, slightly favourable as it is?  Would she have done better had the Left not intervened to sabotage her?  I'm unsure - its impossible to know.

All told, I wish we had let her have her shot so that we could allow her to be answerable to its outcome.  As it is, I feel we cannot do that, and perhaps thats the worst of it - because if she did blow the NDP's chance at significant gains (official opposition or better) - she should be given the boot - but instead we're left with the blame game and the unfortunate losses of NDP MPPs like Jonah Schein and Rosario Marchese - losses which may have been prevented had the Left got its own mouth under control.

Going forward, I hope that the disease that seems to affect most intensely the over-educated and privileged left, can be addressed.  I hope the values of faith (or trust) and solidarity make a return to leftist politics and that the hubris and individualism of expert opinions (almost always from the mouths of the most privileged of leftists) can be lessened considerably. 

Until then...

In solidarity.