The Conservatives have been wasting a great deal of money on their attack advertising against the Liberal’s Justin Trudeau. What is missing in their strategy is that kernel of truth that is needed to make the attacks plausible. Being young is hardly a negative. Nor is brashness a bad trait. The Conservatives have had to wait until Justin Trudeau supplies that kernel.
The most recent example of a kernel such as this was supplied by Ontario Tory Leader Tim Hudak in the recent provincial election. He was doing fine with his extreme right-wing agenda going into the campaign. It was all built on a very ambitious million-jobs plan. He slipped when he added that he would do away with 100,000 civil servant jobs. The stretch for a million jobs was too much when you start with a negative 100,000 jobs.
Even a more centrist Conservative such as John Tory when he headed the Conservatives in the 2007 provincial election produced such a kernel. John’s was the offer to fully fund all religious schools. The facts are that Ontario voters dislike having to support two separate school systems and are not about to support more. And John failed to realize that his own most likely supporters were the least likely to support religious schools. It cost him and his party the election.
And this is the danger that Justin Trudeau faces. It is not the foolish stuff, his opponents have used to date but the injuries he does to himself.
A good example is the growing rift in the Liberal Party over his minions and Trudeau himself interfering in riding nominations. The infighting in the party over this issue has been costing the party for the past 25 years. The rule that the party leader has to authorize every candidate was a change made by the parliamentary wing of the Liberal Party. Many experienced liberals consider the measure to be arbitrary, destructive and illiberal.
In running for the leadership of the party, Justin Trudeau promised to keep his hands off riding decisions. He seemed to understand that grassroots development of party policy and the freedom to choose their candidates was core to rebuilding a strong Liberal Party across Canada.
He blew that idea. In the heart of Liberal Canada, Trudeau blocked a riding candidate and chose his candidate in the Trinity-Spadina by-election. Without an apology to the party and some contriteness, Trudeau has supplied the Conservatives with the kernel: he does not keep his word.
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Copyright 2014 © Peter Lowry
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