Marc Garneau’s withdrawal from the Liberal Leadership Race will certainly be overshadowed by the other leadership race which wrapped up today. But that’s kind of appropriate, since that’s been the story of his candidacy – despite being a genuine canadian hero, he has constantly found himself overshadowed.
During the height of Liberal dominance, the Natural Governing Party would have surely turned towards Marc Garneau. They had a habit of picking distinguished and respected men, choosing Louis St. Laurent in 1948 and Lester B. Pearson a decade later. Neither excited the masses, but they had the CV for the job and could be counted on for competent and steady leadership.
But politics has changed over the past 60 years, and the Liberal Party has changed over the last 6. This leadership race isn’t about electing the Prime Minister, or even the leader of the Opposition – it’s about finding someone who can lead the Liberals back to relevance. When party members want someone who can excite the masses and change the story, suddenly being the “safe choice” is more of a liability than an asset.
From the start, this race was never going to be about Marc Garneau. Even though Garneau has schools named after him, he was always the Liberal Party’s “safety school”, who the party would only turn to if their Plan A imploded. Given that Garneau’s own polling had him more than 50 points behind Trudeau, it’s clear that hasn’t happened.
If there were any doubts before today that Justin Trudeau was going to be the next Liberal leader, Garneau’s announcement makes it all but official. Ironically enough, Garneau just didn’t have the star power to compete.
9 responses to “Lost in Space”
I’m profoundly disappointed – I think this is a very bad development. Trudeau’s appeal is shallow, based on celebrity rather than anything substantial, and I expect it will start to decline dramatically. It has no real roots, just ephemeral impressions that can easily be dispelled.
I betcha that on April 14, the commentariat will start asking how much JT charged for his appearance at the Toronto showcase. And it will only get worse from there.
In some respects, it’s true that he’s unproven, but it’s also true that he’s got a lot of skills as a politician. Being a good communicator, being able to connect – those aren’t things that will evaporate.
What is he communicating?
Who is he connecting with?
I’d certainly like to see more substance from Justin this campaign – that’s been my knock on him from the start. So I don’t disagree with you on the first point.
But given he’s signed up the most supporters, gets huge crowds at his events, and polls well above any other politician in the country, he certainly seems to be connecting.
He’s drawing crowds, at least. He may be connecting with them too, but the depth of that connection remains to be seen.
Ah, well. Forgive me for being overly negative. Time will tell…
So much for party renewal.
Of course, what’s her name will still hope that enough party “supporters” (who of course don’t actually support the party)will favour the idea of a merger with the NDP to propel her to double-digit numbers in the first ballot so that it won’t be a complete humiliation.
P.S. Did you see Terry Glavin’s great op-ed about Justin?
It’s so good, I’ve re-osted it here:
http://brians-op-eds.blogspot.ca/2013/03/marc-garneau-justin-trudeau-end-of.html
Sorry to hear it, I dug him a lot.
I agree with your assessment of the race’s openness btw; well done.
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