The Gargoyle: Justin Trudeau's political style a phenomenon to watch
MARK KENNEDY
Published on: August 20, 2014
EDMONTON — In the age of the selfie, he is the political king.
They cluster around him. Mothers and fathers with children. Old men with canes. Teenagers with that star-struck look in their eyes.
Many of them carry cell-phone cameras, and as he approaches, they ask him to pose with them.
Justin Trudeau, the man who wants to be Canada’s prime minister of a majority Liberal government in 2015, never says no.
It’s part of a remarkable phenomenon that has been occurring for the past year or so throughout Canada at rallies, parades and barbeques.
And until you see it — as I did one evening this week in an Edmonton park that drew about 350 people for a Liberal rally — there’s no way to really comprehend how Trudeau is different from those who have come before him.
Sometime in 2015, Canadians will be asked to cast judgment on their party leaders in an election campaign.
Voters will be urged to make their decision on matters of substance — Which party has the best platform? Is it time for a change or for continuity? Which party leader do you trust most? Who is best equipped to lead Canada?
In making their decision, they will follow their head, their heart, and their gut instinct.
And like every campaign, voters will also be influenced by what they see of the leaders — on TV screens, and in newspaper and online photos.
It’s this unpredictable ingredient — the optics of campaigning — that could make the 2015 race so interesting.
Here’s why: Trudeau performs on the campaign trail unlike any of his rivals, or for that matter, his political predecessors of recent times.
Stephen Harper is an introvert who likes to give speeches during elections but who spends little time pressing the flesh in crowds and whose campaign events are tightly scripted.
Justin Trudeau is an extrovert who also delivers speeches, but also enjoys then wading into the crowds to meet people.
And it’s not just that he does it; it’s how he does it.
Trudeau embraces and hugs the strangers who have come to see him.
He smiles and laughs, or appears serious and concerned — depending on the conversation he’s engaged in.
He knows he’s a political celebrity so he poses for the selfies. Many times, when people nervously fumble to take the picture with their own camera, he takes it from their hands and takes the picture of the two of them together.
As a political walk-about, it takes forever. It’s not perfunctory. He walks very slowly and meets everyone who has their hand outstretched.
His handlers will be pulling their hair out in the next election over how he is putting their daily schedule behind time.
The Mounties who are attached to his campaign (every political leader gets security protection during an election) will have to get accustomed to his free-wheeling style.
And of course, media photographers will stay close to this moving photo-op.
It will be tailor-made for TV.
His critics will warn that this should not justify making him a credible candidate for the prime minister’s chair. There is more to the job than glad-handing, they will say.
But his supporters will say it’s Trudeau’s very ability to personally “connect” with Canadians he’s never met that makes him a leader suited for the times.
Former Liberal leader Stephane Dion was unable to do that when he led his party in the 2008 campaign — in part because of his own leadership failings, but also because of Conservative attack ads that savaged his reputation.
Next time, he predicts, Harper won’t have it so easy.
“There is a strong connection between Mr. Trudeau and the Canadian people. He has an incredible empathy with them.
“Canadians have a need for that, after so many years of a very removed leader who is very abrasive. Now they want a leader who is very close to them and has an open mind and is warm with people.”
That may prove to be true, or Trudeau’s approach to campaigning might fall flat with some voters who remain leery.
Either way, it’s a phenomenon worth watching.
