Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Trudeau To Run

It looks like Justin Trudeau is in:
Justin Trudeau is set to enter federal politics and seek a seat in the Montreal riding of Outremont, according to a report.

Pierre Trudeau's eldest son joined the Liberal riding association in the relatively safe riding of Outremont about two months ago, Montreal's La Presse newspaper reported.

But it appears some Liberals are opposed to the idea of seeing the former prime minister's son run for the seat, the newspaper added.

La Presse reports that Liberal leader Stephane Dion was planning on reserving the riding for high-profile candidates who could help the rebuild the party's support in Quebec.

According to the newspaper, Dion has made it clear to some Liberals that the 35-year-old Trudeau is not the star candidate he was seeking.

I understand Dion's hesitation with Trudeau. One has to wonder if there isn't some concern that Trudeau might cast too great a shadow. Just imagine reporters fawning over every word in the House of Commons hallways, as though defacto leader. Trudeau has the ability to suck all the oxygen out of a room, this disporportionate attention might marginally diminish Dion. There are star candidates, ala Iggy and Dryden, but they are minnows compared to the attention Justin would draw.

If Trudeau enters politics, everyone immediately assumes the goal is eventual leader. A mere career MP simply isn't part of the equation. Trudeau's presence might create some insecurity and unintentional tension, that will only grow over time. I like Justin, what I'm not looking forward to is the media frenzy that is mostly distraction.

4 comments:

Godammitkitty said...

"Media frenzy and distraction" is right! Kinda like this, maybe.
I was actually pretty surprised by this announcement. I think I'll wait and hear what he has to say before I know whether it's a bad ideer or no.

Lept said...

We were just sniggering at the comments generated by the article in 'La Presse' when I saw your comment. An example would be:
"Il devrait plutôt se présenter dans le west-island profond, on y ferait élire n'importe laquelle grande truie pouvu qu'elle se dise libérale!"
For more visit here!

wayward son said...

My suspicion is that any conflict between Dion and Trudeau is overblown by La Presse.

Lept said...

I checked back to see what responses this post had received and was surprised that no one picked up on how surprisingly negative the immediate response was to Trudeau's probable run...
I don't think it's really due to the Dion camp but rather a valid suspicion that he has really not done much to warrant a run...
I hadn't reacted either way myself: but am frequently surprised at knee-jerk reactions of a fair number of your fellow Libbloggers...
I guess I expect them to be as lucid as yourself.
(Speaking of lucid, here's a post you may enjoy)