NDP MP Nathan Cullen, who has long preached the political value of an NDP-Liberal merger, set off a vortex of reiterated overtures, rebuffs, denials and finger-pointing on the subject just by restating his position Wednesday night.

In an interview with Georgia Straight, the Skeena-Bulkley Valley MP said that if Conservatives win a majority of seats, the Liberals will have no choice but to form a coalition with the NDP . Cullen was elected an MP partly on his view that the two parties should merge, or at least not be averse to co-governing. But in a slow summer week on the cusp of a federal election campaign, pre-election stories are high-value targets.

The Georgia Straight’s story got widely picked up and used as a prod to ask Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau about his position (which, like Cullen’s, has not changed…he’s against it) on forming a coalition.

Some NDP strategists, while likely appreciating Trudeau’s discomfort at reiterating a position many anti-Harper voters are against, shot down the idea that Cullen was floating a coalition trial balloon.

“It’s not new from Nathan and it’s not the first time the subject has been raised but we should be talking about policies,” said Robin Sears, a principal at Earnscliffe strategy group and long-time NDP advisor, who added that Cullen is entitled to express his long-held view.

Ian Capstick, a managing partner at MediaStyle and former NDP political staffer, marvelled at the conspiracies coming from pundits on Twitter — and a host of other corners — who are speculating on Cullen’s comments.

“Nathan Cullen literally ran on this…did Ottawa forget that? It’s like we all have collective amnesia – soon someone will tell me Justin Trudeau will legalize pot,” said Capstick.

In his bid for NDP leadership in 2012, Cullen proposed joint progressive candidacies in the next election with the Liberals and the Greens. At the time, Cullen said he hoped the NDP would take power in 2015, and according to the Globe and Mail, “he trusts New Democrat members to make the right decisions in each riding to ensure the defeat of Conservative MPs in the next election.”

That’s why Capstick expressed surprise, among other emotions, when deciphering why Ottawa, and media in particular, made so much of Cullen’s comments in a local paper.

“The leader himself has been very clear many times that after the next election, if they face themselves with not a majority of seats, obviously they’re going to have to look for some way to govern,” he continued.

Capstick, who said he “doesn’t know what’s going on in Ottawa these days,” said “I never fail to be amused when people awake up and realize what NDP have been saying for years.”