CBC: Manitoba Opposition looking to take the ‘New’ out of ‘New Democratic Party’
…The NDP constituency association in Lac Du Bonnet has put forward a resolution for the party’s annual convention in March to formally rebrand the Manitoba New Democratic Party as the Manitoba Democratic Party….
Royce Koop, who teaches political studies at the University of Manitoba, said a name change is unlikely to sway voters, and could alienate some longtime NDP volunteers and donors.
“There are very strong partisans that identify with the NDP and the party can consistently draw upon the efforts of those volunteers … as well as upon their money.”
The name-changing effort at the federal level coincided with the popularity of former United States president Barack Obama, Koop added.
“They were hoping to create a connection between this new party — the Democratic Party of Canada … and the Democratic Party in the U.S.,” he said.
“The problem is, now the Democratic Party is in rough shape itself.”