Shallow Aspirations

"There is always the chance that it could be a coronation.  That being said, if the Liberal party thinks a coronation is going to fix things, then they haven't listened....  Quick fixes are not going to save the Liberal party's fortunes."        Greg MacEachern, former Liberal adviser, current vice-president, Environics

The leader of the Liberal Party has always been someone who enjoys the public admiration as a figure who can command interest through the strength of his personality.  At least relatively latterly. Those who have achieved the leadership and who have failed to inspire the voters have simply faded while another search for a replacement personality proceeds apace.

Very fresh in memory was the enthusiasm and anticipation that coalesced within self-hugging Liberals when academic Michael Ignatieff concurred with his coterie of supporters that he could indeed be side-lined from academia to be enlisted for the greater purpose of serving his country.  Another academic, Stephane Dion, had failed to ignite the public imagination just prior to Mr. Ignatieff's coronation.

And then, of course, came the long-time aspirant, a former leader of the provincial Ontario NDP who was premier as well, and who left a best-forgotten legacy behind him before he eventually came back to politics as a reborn Liberal.  Who still aspires to lead the life-gasping Liberals out of the deep morass of corruption dudgeon that the Jean Chretien government left it mired within.

And then, then, then there is Justin Trudeau.  He of the divine legacy, taking up the flame left by his father, celebrated as the most cerebral and obnoxious of prime ministers of recent memory and alternately as the most patriotic and devilish of prime ministers of recent vintage.  It is generally agreed that Trudeau fils is lacking the intellectual depth of his father, but is in full charge of the Trudeau charisma.

And it is his personal charm, his uber-pleasant personality, his sense of fun and his ambitious desire to follow in his father's famous footsteps that lists his appeal to the movers-and-shakers in the Liberal Party executive.   Summer's end draws nigh, and it is at that time that Justin has pledged to furnish his well-wishers with his decision to run or not to run.

Liberals are dazzled with the prospect of this callow, inexperienced and likeable young man being able to lead them back to the heights they painfully surrendered at the behest of the electorate.  It is, as bad-girl Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett has declared a problem:  "Leaderitis gets us into big trouble", said she.

 And she, above all, knows just how much trouble spontaneity and lack of forethought can create.