Dippers & Tiaras

The beauty contest that is the New Democrat leadership race may be having a negative impact on the party's political fortunes.

Without a substantive policy debate from the candidates to capture the media's and the public's imagination, the NDP has to rely on a weakened front bench in the Commons to make headlines. That's proving to be a tall order for an inexperienced caucus and is probably an unachievable one for interim leader Nycole Turmel.

Today's Nanos poll showing the NDP falling to third place suggests lacklustre performances on the campaign trail and in the Commons have finally given many Canadians the reasons they needed to reassess the wisdom of their vote for the NDP last May.

In a recent column, Chantal Hebert lamented the "slim pickings" of an "aseptic" race for the NDP leadership. She attributes the dearth of policy to "the chilling effect of the bare-knuckled Conservative approach to politics on the country’s political conversation." Unlikely.

If the candidates did nothing but sing from the same NDP hymn book for the rest of the campaign, Harper's advertising gurus would still have plenty of fodder to attack the eventual winner.

Much more likely is a well founded fear that the NDP's new coalition of activist federal government devotees and asymmetry loving hard nationalists from Quebec might come undone if a wide ranging policy debate took place. As a result, any policies that might highlight this divide will be avoided. Grand plans and visions that benefit all Canadians are a thing of the past for the new New Democratic Party.

So don't expect the NDP leadership race to become anything more than what it already is: a beauty contest to crown the next leader of a young and fragile coalition.