Trudeaumania is dead. Get over it. And so is a Canadian federal government that relies only on a coalition between Ontario and Quebec. Stephen Harper figured that out when he got a majority government with votes out of Western Canada and Ontario.
The Liberals are also dead, because they still think the coalition revolves around a leader who comes from Quebec and can garner votes in Ontario.
Political dynasties relying on the father-and-son passing of the crown are no good for democracy. Our American cousins proved that when George Bush Sr. engineered the presidential election of George Bush Jr. Witness the American economic ship run hard aground and who was at the helm. It's no accident the British no longer let royal families lead their governments.
But I digress back to Canada. I wish Justin Trudeau all the luck in the world in his race for the leadership, and if he gets what he wishes for I wish him even more luck, as he tries to change decades of Liberal party mindsets regarding the political structure of Canada.
He'll have to earn those stripes on his own, without the legacy of good old dad, and if Canada falls for anything less we deserve what we get. Justin Trudeau will certainly earn those stripes because he will have to change decades, if not centuries, of Liberal thinking. The last election certainly shows that logic has also gone aground.
So here's to success for Justin, and if you earn those stripes the hard way, good on ya. I'm a cranky old professor who has had enough of political partisanship and has finally just had it.
The new political reality is one where the voting power is beginning to shift westward. Harper and the gang realized that when their political strategy changed and they began to work those Western voters hard.
The remarkable thing is that the Quebec vote also abandoned the Liberals so severely and in the process created a political abyss that pretty much spelled the extinction of the Liberal party as we came to know it.
Is recovery impossible? Not by a long shot. Recall that the Conservative government pretty much self-immolated under the political leadership of Brian Mulroney.
Politicians have an amazing political linkage with the phoenix; they seem able to rise from their ashes. The lesson for the Liberals is that you have to get a new coat of feathers as well if you're going to rise once again.
Perhaps it really is time for a young buck, who is politically new to the scene, to possibly bring some of those new ideas into the party, and the challenge for the party is to see whether they are progressive enough to change their political entrenchment and adopt a new position. There is nothing like massive threat to one's survival to produce creative thinking. It shakes up corporations and it can shape up federal political parties.
Trudeau has an incredibly tough job on his hands; how to change a decades-old Liberal political formula of choosing a leader who must come from Quebec, in order to garner that vote, and who must speak English to attract the Ontario Conservative vote.
The Conservative government has buried that strategy and it is now pushing up political daisies. Here's the issue: is Trudeau internally able to change that long held Liberal formula and create the leadership to offer a new political presentation to voters in Canada?
If he can't, I fear the Liberals are destined to continue repeating their fundamental mistakes, and then, by heavens, Justin better hope Trudeaumania is not dead, because he'll need all the help he can get.
Trudeau senior is dead, so there will be no father-and-son passing of the crown such as George Bush Sr and 'The Decider' Jr. Justin will earn his kudos, or not, all on his own.
"... I'm a cranky old..."
Well, he got one part of the narrative correct.
Can the Liberals regain Quebec? Possibly. To steal a phrase from another contributor, NDP support in the province is a mile wide and an inch deep. While it's possible that we have may seen a permanent paradigm shift, it's far too early to make that claim with any certainty.
The whole notion that we're talking about a dynasty here is rather nonsensical anyway. Pierre Trudeau died before his son was elected into office, and there have been six different Prime Ministers and ten elections since Pierre Trudeau left office. It's not a dynasty; it's a democracy.
Trudeau is a high-risk, high-reward proposition for the Liberals. Whether he is their best candidate remains to be seen. But a young, charismatic candidate with a real vision for this country could produce some real upheaval in traditional Canadian political states. Canadians want a President Obama--they want him more than the Americans do. If Justin can be that person, he will be the next Prime Minister.