The followup:

• Supporters of the on-again, off-again "unite the left" movement might want to hold off on getting ahead of themselves. In response to NDP MP Martin's musings about inter-party cooperation, Liberal leader Stephane Dion has confirmed that he isn't interested in any kind of formal arrangement with either the NDP or the Greens.

• At least one of Pat Martin's caucus colleagues appears distinctly underwhelmed by his impromptu musings this week on the prospect of a unite-the-left movement. But another was less quick to shoot the idea down.
  
  As far as New Democrat MP Irene Mathyssen is concerned, it's an open question whether the Liberal party can be considered "left" at all.
  
  "They talk a good game, but no," Mathyssen told Macleans.ca. "I've seen nothing progressive from the Liberals that would make me the least bit interested in talking to them. They're not a left-wing party, and neither are the Greens. We stand alone in terms of our principles and what we believe."
  
  The Ontario MP points to Liberal policy on everything from sending Canadian troops into an "untenable situation" in Afghanistan to then-finance minister Paul Martin's "gutting" of transfer payments. "I have nothing in common with the Liberals," she said. "And there are lots of progressive people in this country who see themselves as small-l liberals, but haven't made the connection that small-l liberals belong in the NDP with community builders, NGOs and the progressive labour movement. Those are the people that I want to work with."
  
  Veteran Nova Scotia MP Peter Stoffer, who says he's learned that in politics anything is possible, is more open-minded.
  
  "Never say never," Stoffer told Macleans.ca. "But in order to say that now, it would be prematurely admitting defeat - and I don't like admitting defeat at all. I'm positive we'll do well in the next election. But if we were to go back to the 1993 days [when the NDP won just nine seats] who knows? I believe everything should be on the table at that point."
  
  Stoffer admitted that the NDP needs to do a "better job" of getting its message out, but pointed to the growing crowd of political parties on the left as evidence that the progressive voice is growing. "I welcome the company," he said. "I'm pleased that the Liberals are looking over the left shoulder and I'm glad the Greens are there."
  
  Stoffer also commented on Dead Centre, the progressive manifesto by former NDP communications director(and current Maclean's 50 member)Jamey Heath, which calls on voters to unite the left by abandoning the Liberals for the NDP.  "People like Buzz Hargrove and others have been saying this for some time, as have many people before, like the Waffle Movement," he said. "Jamey's book is book is well-written - it expresses some concerns that I wouldn't agree with, but i thought it was a good analysis of the fault on the left. And Pat Martin's discussion is an extension of that."

The story: 

New Democrat MP Pat Martin told the Toronto Star on Tuesday that his party should consider forging "some kind of informal coalition" with the Liberals if it hopes to survive the next election.

The New Democrats have been in a funk of late, sliding from the 17% support down to the low teens and coming under increasing pressure from the Green party. According to recent poll by Decima Research, both parties are now tied at 13% support.

"We have to unite the left somehow," Martin said. "We need to mobilize our troops. This should be a call to arms, a sounding of the alarm ... If [they] don't get on board this time, how much longer can we hang on?" he said.

While the Winnipeg MP said he would "rather stick pins in my eyes" than broker a more formal alliance, he questioned the wisdom of spending the party's money on consistently electing a small minority of its candidates to Parliament.

"You would be crazy not to ask yourself, `How much longer can we continue to spend that kind of money for these kind of results?'," he said. "I am only putting into voice what an awful lot of people are thinking. I guess we could carry on forever like this, but people have to ask themselves is that what they want."

The Liberals, though, might not be as interested in an alliance as Martin. When asked to comment on the story, a party spokesperson said: "I will not waste any breath on the musings of Pat Martin."

On Tuesday, the National Post reported Martin had questioned the future of the party, saying the NDP's message simply wasn't getting through to Canadians.

"The result has been to bore people into some kind of a stupor where nobody has any idea what we stand for anymore," he said.

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