Persuading and Pulling the New Democratic Vote
This is my 24th federal general election. Not much has changed over the years when you think of the theory behind electioneering: persuading prospective voters to cast their ballot for your party and getting them out to vote. Looking at the tools, most everything has changed. We still send out door-to-door canvassers with bags of leaflets and sign location forms and voters lists on clipboards. But we’re slow to come to grips with digital algorithms and social media, and their impact on public knowledge and opinion. And, with the electorate in a highly volatile mood, campaigns still matter. Less than a week after the Prime Minister called the election, the state of the parties is entirely different from the start of the 2015 campaign. Then the NDP stood first, the Conservatives second, and the Liberals third. The Greens barely registered. The Conservative support was steady throughout the campaign ending where it started at 33% of the total vote. They won 99 seats out of