Consequences

Life is about consequences. This is a fact that Elizabeth May is about to discover. She has urged "strategic voting" in key ridings, whereby her Green Party members would vote Liberal or NDP to stop the Conservatives. And these are the consequences as I see them:

1. May has demonstrated that the Green Party is more about a left wing agenda than about the environment. A mean spirited "Stop Harper at any cost" attitude will her their support from people who were attracted by some of their non-environmental policies.
2. May has demonstrated that she does not care about creating a national political party. This will hurt the next time the Green Party wants to participate in a national debate. Being the tool of the Liberals and the NDP does not speak well for them.
3. May has shown that she doesn't care about the funding that comes from every vote. This is going to hurt the bottom line. The 2009 Green Party budget is going to have some holes, and some staff are going to be looking for other work. After all, when you run a left wing party, you need all the federal funding you can get your hands on; lefties are better at giving away other peoples money than giving away their own.
   
4. May has ignored the concerns of rank and file members who are "Green" as a matter of principle. I believe regardless of the results, May has seen her last election; the true Green supporters are going to be calling for her removal.
5. May's ignoring of the "run a candidate in every riding" principle will hurt the efforts of the Green Party to find strong candidates. Who wants to work like a dog only to have their leader tell voters to vote for the Liberals or the NDP. Yes, they'll always find candidates to fill the slots. There are always some X-Gen kind of people who are looking for something to do, but they are going to have a difficult time finding strong candidates.

Yes, our actions have consequences.