[King of Kensington]

So...does anyone take this guy seriously?

Still, there is no getting around it: Objectively speaking, on that stage, Mr. Trudeau would be a conspicuous lightweight.

Politics, however, is rarely objective. In 2010, I watched Mr. Trudeau give a frankly ridiculous speech in support of George Smitherman’s run for mayor of Toronto. “Around the world, there’s a battle going on between the politics of fear and division, and the politics of hope and responsibility,†he thundered, casting the entirely conventional and not very likeable Mr. Smitherman as some kind of inspirational Obama figure. “Canadians are better than that. Torontonians are better than that. We will not be divided. We will not be turned against ourselves. We will not sit and fear and cower about what the future may hold!â€

Such grandiose oratory for a mayoral election! I was trying not to laugh. But many of the Liberals in the room were trying hard not to faint.

http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/09/07/justin-trudeau-a-liberal-lightweight-chris-selley/

 

[Joe R.]

I think only Justin Trudeau takes himself seriously. The next election will be another easy majority for the conservatives.

 

[King of Kensington]

I'm sure the Tories are delighted at the prospect of Justin. The Liberals need to win back the so-called "blue Liberals" who defected to Harper in the 2011 election. Somehow I think Justin comes across too "flaky" to the business types, but guys like Manley and McKenna who'd appeal to them have been out of politics for too long and are too happy making millions in the private sector to lead that rump.

Meanwhile, on the NDP side, JT is robbed of the key argument that the Liberals have been using perhaps as far back as Mackenzie King: we're big and they're small. And somehow I don't think he could effectively use the argument that "I'm socially progressive, but unlike Tom Mulcair and the NDP, I'm fiscally responsible." Mulcair comes across as far more serious and businesslike than Justin; it may have worked for Martin against Layton but the idea of Justin making that argument just seems laughable.

So what constituency does JT appeal to exactly?

 

[old boy]

It's the constituency that believes JT is the heir apparent. However, there are few " national " politicians in this country today that appear to be in the business of promoting any idealistic vision of Canada whatsoever. Harper's business is to ridicule those that make the effort.

 

[js97]

Move aside Justin... Me thinks Jean Charest will be heavily recruited to the Federal scene

 

[TOareaFan]

Move aside Justin... Me thinks Jean Charest will be heavily recruited to the Federal scene

Former Tory environment minister Charest? The only Francophone to ever lead the PC party? That Jean Charest is a candidate to lead the Federal Liberal party?

 

[k10ery]

Yes, an aisle crosser could NEVER lead a national party in Canada.

I loved the pic of Justin in today's paper. If Pierre's aphorism was "Just watch me," Justin's is "Please, please watch me!"

 

[js97]

Former Tory environment minister Charest? The only Francophone to ever lead the PC party? That Jean Charest is a candidate to lead the Federal Liberal party?

Former Progressive conservative (a.k.a centrist) that crossed the floor to lead Quebec as a Liberal Premier for over 10 yrs.

He is as good of a candidate as any right now.

Yes, an aisle crosser could NEVER lead a national party in Canada.

Oh how wrong is that quote!

How is that so different from the current leaders:

Former Reformist heading our country
Former Provincial Liberal, Environment Mininster in fact, heading the NDP (is this an sign?)
And Provincial NDP Premier heading the Federal Liberals

 

[TOareaFan]

Former Progressive conservative (a.k.a centrist) that crossed the floor to lead Quebec as a Liberal Premier for over 10 yrs.

He is as good of a candidate as any right now.

Oh how wrong is that quote!

How is that so different from the current leaders:

Former Reformist heading our country
Former Provincial Liberal, Environment Mininster in fact, heading the NDP (is this an sign?)
And Provincial NDP Premier heading the Federal Liberals

Moving from provincial politics to federal (or the other way) often involves a change of lables/parties because the parties do not line up exactly the same provincially and federally. This is not "crossing the floor"....that happens when a member of one party in a parliament changes parties within the same parliment (think Belinda Stronach eloping from the Tories).

So, in the case of Charest, when he moved from Ottawa to Quebec....he was looking to lead a federalist party that was more towards the "right" that had a chance of winning.......in Quebec (where right and left are shifted more to the left relative to other provinces) the provinicial liberal party lines up like that and is, both, the most right of the, then, mainstream parties and the strongest federalist voice. If he were to come back to federal politics to lead the Liberals this would be a massive shift and would give them a very difficult sell job......he would be running around Quebec trying to get people to vote, federally, for the Liberals all the while being reminded of what he said in past federalelections about why people should not vote for the federal liberals.

The Reform party, through mergers and name changes....essentially became the Conservative Party....so no switch.
Former Provincial Liberal leading the NDP ....see above....provincial to federal
Former Provincial NDPer leading Liberals....see above....provincial to federal (also the fact that he is just an interim leader and his past NDP roots are often cited as why he could never lead the Liberals into battle...and why he has failed to win the leadership in the past).

 

[Joe R.]

What an utter cheeseball this guy is. He thinks so highly of himself.

 

[js97]

Moving from provincial politics to federal (or the other way) often involves a change of lables/parties because the parties do not line up exactly the same provincially and federally. This is not "crossing the floor"....that happens when a member of one party in a parliament changes parties within the same parliment (think Belinda Stronach eloping from the Tories).

So, in the case of Charest, when he moved from Ottawa to Quebec....he was looking to lead a federalist party that was more towards the "right" that had a chance of winning.......in Quebec (where right and left are shifted more to the left relative to other provinces) the provinicial liberal party lines up like that and is, both, the most right of the, then, mainstream parties and the strongest federalist voice. If he were to come back to federal politics to lead the Liberals this would be a massive shift and would give them a very difficult sell job......he would be running around Quebec trying to get people to vote, federally, for the Liberals all the while being reminded of what he said in past federalelections about why people should not vote for the federal liberals.

The Reform party, through mergers and name changes....essentially became the Conservative Party....so no switch.
Former Provincial Liberal leading the NDP ....see above....provincial to federal
Former Provincial NDPer leading Liberals....see above....provincial to federal (also the fact that he is just an interim leader and his past NDP roots are often cited as why he could never lead the Liberals into battle...and why he has failed to win the leadership in the past).

Aren't we splitting hairs now?
Plus leadership races have always been about who you know in the party, and with the Libs down to 35 seats, I can't see that being a difficult task (especially with the limited number of policitians to pick from, I would think they would welcome a breath of 'fresh air'.

We have to also remember that Charest has dedicated the last 10 years to the Libs. I think if the Libs are serious about rebuilding the party and becoming the 'Big Red Tent' they advertise, they will seriously consider someone like Charest.

 

[TOareaFan]

Aren't we splitting hairs now?
Plus leadership races have always been about who you know in the party, and with the Libs down to 35 seats, I can't see that being a difficult task (especially with the limited number of policitians to pick from, I would think they would welcome a breath of 'fresh air'.

You may consider it splitting hairs....I think it is an important distinction. While it is relatively simple to find examples of politicians that have moved between provincial and federal parties and led a party with a different lable/name than the one the left.....it is much harder to find any politicians that have stayed in one level of politics (provincial or federal) actually changed parties (ie crossed the floor) and then gone on to lead the party that they have subsequently joined. In Federal politics, I can not think of one guy who has led, both, the Conservatives (in any of their incarnations) and the Liberals.....am I missing one?

We have to also remember that Charest has dedicated the last 10 years to the Libs. I think if the Libs are serious about rebuilding the party and becoming the 'Big Red Tent' they advertise, they will seriously consider someone like Charest.

I would think there is probably not one member of the the Liberal Party of Canada who is considering the former leader of the Quebec Liberal Party as a potential leader. The older members of the LPC will remember what he used to say about them/LPC before he joined the QLP and the younger members will find it hard to imagine that a grey haired, 54 year old career politician and former conservative leader is the symbol of a renewed party.

If Mr. Charest has a future in politics it is, likely, as a candidate for his old job as MP for Sherbrooke....running as a conservative to be Harper's new Quebec Lieutenant combating the NDP waive. The last election installed (at least on temp basis) the NDP as the federalist party of choice in Quebec. Sherbrooke is one of the ridings that got swept up in that and they elected a 19 year old with no experience just because he had orange signs. He had no political experience and was very quick to make mistakes. His first (Three days after the election, on the Johnn Oakley show Dusseault stated Sovereignty will happen and that only Quebecers will decide if they want to be a country.) really brought into question his standing as a federalist voice. An experienced, trusted, politician like Charest eats guys like this for breakfast.

 

[js97]

The older members of the LPC will remember what he used to say about them/LPC before he joined the QLP and the younger members will find it hard to imagine that a grey haired, 54 year old career politician and former conservative leader is the symbol of a renewed party.

The old Libs are part of the problem...
I can see Charest having a much wider appeal to the less partisan (and the last election, showed that they were far less partisan)... Charest could at the least, be the the Liberal Quebect Lieutenant.

 

[King of Kensington]

Pretty bang on assessment:

Strictly in terms of experience and accomplishment, Justin Trudeau is Sarah Palin minus the books, the vice-presidential candidacy and the governorship.

Is this really a man prepared to be leader of the Liberal Party? A future prime minister?

In the 1920s, when the once-mighty British Liberal party plummeted to the dismal place where Canada’s Liberals are today, they turned to David Lloyd George — creator of the British welfare state, wartime prime minister, international statesman — but not even that giant of 20th century politics could save them.

Will Canada’s Liberals actually seek salvation in the leadership of a man whose greatest personal accomplishment was scoring 38 per cent of the popular vote in Papineau?

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/Column+count+Trudeau/7226228/story.html

 

[spider]

Trudeau's just another word for nothing left to lose,
(with apologies to Janis Joplin)