Newfoundland and Labrador general election, November 30, 2015

Part of me wonders whether Cleary will lose the nomination to another PC who comes forth at the last minute. The PCs can still revel in the damage they did to the NLNDP, especially pouring salt in Jack Harris' wounds. They can say, oh well, the membership has spoken.

Cleary leaves the political stage, disgraced and humiliated.

Wouldnt it be great if Jack Harris decided to run for the NL NDP against Ryan Cleary!!

I don't know, it's probably best to keep your distance from Cleary in every way.

Local business woman and former St. John's South - Mount Pearl federal NDP candidate Peg Norman's response to Cleary's switch:

I ran as the NDP candidate St. John's South - Mount Pearl in 2004 and 2006. I made the difficult decision to not run a third time in 2008. Ryan Cleary came forward wanting to be the NDP candidate. After meeting with Ryan and getting to know him, I supported his nomination and campaigned with him in his initial run. I supported him again in 2011 when he won.

His move today from the NDP to the provincial PC's is one of the most bizarre actions I've seen in partisan politics in my lifetime. For the past 6 months (and more for some) party members, party supporters, Ryan supporters and the labour movement have been actively working to get him re-elected as a NDP MP for St. John's South-Mt. Pearl.

He gladly took our money and our time. Both, for many, is in short supply. We gave and we volunteered and we encouraged our neighbours and friends and family to support Ryan because we believed in either him or the party. For some, one of the two, some both. In my circle, he was often a hard sell. My belief in the principles of social democracy meant that he was my candidate of choice, as he was a member of the federal NDP and espoused those principles every day. I tend to trust those who speak about their ideology with such conviction. It's what allows me to get through each day, knowing that I am among people who believe that it is possible to do better in our province, our country and our world.

But today. What a kick in the teeth. This move is clearly an indictment of Ryan's dishonesty and disloyalty. This is clearly the actions of a person who has absolutely no understanding of political ideology and is solely motivated by a narcissistic attempt to be on top. Sadly, the greatest fall-out of all of this was the loss of one of the best MP's this province has ever had. Many, sadly, abandoned Jack Harris's campaign to work for Ryan. We foolishly assumed that Jack was safe, and Ryan was at the greatest risk of losing his seat. All knew how important it was to retain both New Democrat seats and worked like dogs to help do it. Here's a text I received from a party supporter Wednesday evening when this news first came to light: "Spent days doing door to door in two polls and pulled votes E-day for the nimrod! Because I thought Jack was safe…" .

What an utter betrayal of everyone who worked to get him re-elected. What an utter betrayal of his constituents. And what an utter betrayal of his colleague Jack Harris. 
This is not the kind of politics I want any part of. Ryan Cleary does not represent anything that I believe in. He is a self-serving, egotistical little man who deserves no repsect from anyone. I feel most for his children and family. They have to continue to live with him.

"If my Mom hates his guts, good luck with my Dad," says my Wife. Her parents live a few hundred metres outside of Windsor Lake district. I hope Cleary doesn't accidentally wander upon their land.

That's if those NDP voters went to the Liberals. There seems to be a lot of New Democrats in this province who prefer the PCs to the Liberals. While some previous NDP supporters - and candidates - went to the Liberals over the last few years I know of several New Democrats who have started supporting the PCs over the last year or so. A big reason why Jack Harris and Ryan Cleary got elected was due to a lot of PCs supporting them over the Conservatives.

I guess the PCs told Cleary he'd be the next Danny Williams, and he believed them. He's not even a Brian Peckford.

The NLNDP was already struggling, but now they are hurt. Maybe that will motivate them. We'll see.

Liberals poised to win election with landslide, poll suggests: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/abacus-data-poll-newfoundland-labrador-1.3306827

Could the Liberals pull off a Frank McKenna-style 40 seat sweep in NL?

For some reason, 308 is projecting five seats for the NLNDP (and one for the PCs).

http://www.threehundredeight.com/p/atlantic.html

If the absence of visible signs of organization/support are any indication (e.g., election signs, campaign HQs, etc) the St. John's NDP (they are not a province-wide party) is headed for a major disaster. Like back to the heady days of the 1980s when they had no elected representatives, including a seatless leader. Liberals appear to be pouring tons of resources into St. John's, especially targeting the only 2 remaining NDP incumbents. After the loss of Jack Harris as an MP, many of them seem to be resigned to losing. They have no money, half the candidates they need and almost all their younger organizers left over the past 2 years. Pretty desperate times