Bitterness clings to the NDP like Miss Havisham's wedding dress.
Until reading Adam Radwanski's interview with Brian Topp, NDP campaign director, I had not digested how angry the NDP remains about the collapse of the coalition last December.
But regret leaks through the words.
At the time, many people who are not Conservative partisans were displeased that the Governor-General seemingly altered the constitution and decided the Prime Minister could govern in opposition to the majority will of Parliament. Among non-Conservative partisans there was a general let down as well, but it was felt differently in each party.
For Greens, who were never part of the coalition concept, they were probably mildly pleased that a grand coalition of progressives would not be formed that excluded them but mildly displeased that the anti-environmental Harper regime would continue.
For Blocquistes, the grand game of playing parties off against each other for Quebec's benefit would simply continue with the Conservatives back in the role of doling out the cash instead of a Liberal-NDP Cabinet.
For Liberals, their policy objectives would be met and the focus could return to winning the next election on their own.
But New Democrats were crushed. Their best chance at cabinet seats was gone, and the conditions – a weak Liberal leader after an historic defeat, an isolated Conservative regime, an opposition-galvanizing issue like the economic statement - are likely never to be as good again.
While the other opposition parties continue on, the NDP is clearly still raw from the experience.
Mr. Topp's interview is filled with phrases like "the five stages of mourning" and "reneging on their signatures."
At one point, Mr. Topp states "the Ignatieff Liberals have burned their bridges with the other opposition parties in the House."
Clearly, the NDP is not a happy bunch. The closest emotional example I can think of is a cockled husband or a spurned bride.
There are massive implications for this, far graver than the close-run politics of timing the defeat of the Conservatives and forcing an election.
The truth is that the next election will likely produce yet another minority Parliament. The Liberals may have more seats than the Conservatives after the next ballot, but their chances of getting above the 155 seat barrier and holding a majority are not strong.
The likely election results are either a finish like 2006 – a weaker Conservative minority – or like 2004 – a Liberal minority.
Typically, the post-election mathematics is based around a calculation of the Liberal and NDP vote and if that is enough to pass legislation. If it is, the Liberals should be able to form a somewhat stable regime. If it is not, they will be beholden to the BQ or CPC to pass bills and likely cannot govern.
(The entire Belinda Stronach-Gurmant Grewal-Chuck Cadman madness was due to the razor thin margins in that Liberal-NDP mathematics.)
Based on the anger inside the NDP, no one should assume they will be willing partners in sustaining the Liberals in a confidence matter again.
Like a spurned bride, the NDP will be extremely hostile to the Liberals in this and the next Parliament. That hostility may stretch so far as to include supporting the Conservatives over the Liberals when they are given a free choice.
The Liberals will then have to ensure that the NDP is not given free choices, that the political pressure on the caucus from their core is so extreme that they can never even tacitly support the Conservatives.
This will only increase the hostility of the NDP caucus to the Liberals still further.
Without a majority government to allow some magnanimity to return to Parliament, this situation will probably get a lot worse before it gets better.
In Great Expecations, Miss Havisham is eventually destroyed by her bitterness, the tattered wedding dress she wears catching fire after she realizes she has become that which she hates most.
Let us hope the NDP enjoys a better future.
