Well Bee, there was always an internal debate within the NDP about sticking to founding principles verses appealing to more voters and this caused a shift towards the center. However the cost was high because most of the grass root workers were more socialist in their views (myself included) and they were turned off by by this pragmatism. Also there was a perception that organized labour was controlling the party and so the party executive distanced themselves from labour. In doing so they also distanced themselves from a large block of funding and the damage remains. The problem is that these divisions force us to swallow a more bitter pill. Years ago Tommy Douglas realized that he would never be Prime Minister but by sticking to his guns he was able to accomplish more than most leaders ever did. However Pearson was not the arsehole that we see today at the helm and diplomacy gave us the best government(minority) in Canadian history. The CPP and Medicare stand as a tribute to both of them but there is great pressure from the right undermine each of them. Oh but to have Douglas and Pearson again.............