The new star on the scene
I liked Fareed Zakaria's take on Justin Trudeau's electoral victory in Canada. In essence, he argues that you do not need to be negative in order to win an election. He also provided examples with previous progressive presidents in the US who have always won whenever they have run a positive campaign focused on the future rather than the flaws of the past. Angry populists like Sanders, he argues, do have some appeal, but only to a certain point - and they never win major elections, because ultimately, people tend to identify with hope rather than anger.
Here is a more detailed look on the matter:
Justin Trudeau shows you don’t have to be angry to succeed in politics
There is also the argument that no matter how much political stability and economic development a government brings to a society, it inevitably tends to lose its appeal throughout the populace, once roughly a decade has passed. This may have been the case with Canada, where Harper was largely seen as naturally intelligent and politically savvy, but never had the appeal and charisma that people tend to seek in a leader.
Of course, Trudeau's success is partly due to this, but also due to the fact that he did not indulge in left-wing populism, but rather adopted quite a pragmatic, even centrist stance on a number of issues, which gave him the leverage to maneuver across the political spectrum, and attract voters from an array of segments. For example, he is not planning to do any sharp and insane moves - all he is promising is to maintain a modest budget deficit in order to kick-start the economy - something that is neither surprising nor unseen before.
Even in terms of foreign policy, Trudeau has bet on predictability and openness. The only major turn in Canada's foreign policy is the decision to withdraw from the fight with ISIL, and he had given indications about that, well prior to the election. Predictably, his first act after being elected was to contact Obama and inform him about this, a decision which the US president met with understanding. Despite this move, the relations with the US will be improving in other areas, including ecology and climate change. All in all, Canada is probably going to revert to a previous image of itself on the international stage, which will differ from the sharper image that the Conservatives had crafted for the country. Canada will be betting on multilateralism, cooperation, and consensus - something they are very good at.
Trudeau has been called "pretty but not very smart" - and yet, he has appeared at the right moment, and now has an opportunity to do things right, and bring Canada one step higher. He has a chance to make Canada a synonym of constructive cooperation once more, an image that the country had lost in recent years.
Sure, he has proven that he can be a successful candidate. Now the question is if he can be a successful prime minister and leader. This is a much bigger challenge, because there will be a number of obstacles to the reform that he seems willing to conduct. There will be high expectations, just like there were about Obama when he was first elected. Now he will have to turn the election rhetoric into reality. He will have to keep his promises and balance between the competing regional and other interests in a country that is amazingly diverse in many respects, including politically. The good news for him is that a number of experienced Liberals have also been elected into office, so he has a chance to form a capable team, and prove that Canada can be different from the one-man show it used to be under Harper.
Naturally, there are always big expectations from that type of leader - young, charismatic, positive, and coming with great promises. There is a lot of interest focused on Trudeau worldwide right now - he is being called "the sexiest politician", and not just for his looks, but for the message he is bringing. Now what remains is for him to prove that he could do his job just as well as he maintains his looks.
Here is a more detailed look on the matter:
Justin Trudeau shows you don’t have to be angry to succeed in politics
There is also the argument that no matter how much political stability and economic development a government brings to a society, it inevitably tends to lose its appeal throughout the populace, once roughly a decade has passed. This may have been the case with Canada, where Harper was largely seen as naturally intelligent and politically savvy, but never had the appeal and charisma that people tend to seek in a leader.
Of course, Trudeau's success is partly due to this, but also due to the fact that he did not indulge in left-wing populism, but rather adopted quite a pragmatic, even centrist stance on a number of issues, which gave him the leverage to maneuver across the political spectrum, and attract voters from an array of segments. For example, he is not planning to do any sharp and insane moves - all he is promising is to maintain a modest budget deficit in order to kick-start the economy - something that is neither surprising nor unseen before.
Even in terms of foreign policy, Trudeau has bet on predictability and openness. The only major turn in Canada's foreign policy is the decision to withdraw from the fight with ISIL, and he had given indications about that, well prior to the election. Predictably, his first act after being elected was to contact Obama and inform him about this, a decision which the US president met with understanding. Despite this move, the relations with the US will be improving in other areas, including ecology and climate change. All in all, Canada is probably going to revert to a previous image of itself on the international stage, which will differ from the sharper image that the Conservatives had crafted for the country. Canada will be betting on multilateralism, cooperation, and consensus - something they are very good at.
Trudeau has been called "pretty but not very smart" - and yet, he has appeared at the right moment, and now has an opportunity to do things right, and bring Canada one step higher. He has a chance to make Canada a synonym of constructive cooperation once more, an image that the country had lost in recent years.
Sure, he has proven that he can be a successful candidate. Now the question is if he can be a successful prime minister and leader. This is a much bigger challenge, because there will be a number of obstacles to the reform that he seems willing to conduct. There will be high expectations, just like there were about Obama when he was first elected. Now he will have to turn the election rhetoric into reality. He will have to keep his promises and balance between the competing regional and other interests in a country that is amazingly diverse in many respects, including politically. The good news for him is that a number of experienced Liberals have also been elected into office, so he has a chance to form a capable team, and prove that Canada can be different from the one-man show it used to be under Harper.
Naturally, there are always big expectations from that type of leader - young, charismatic, positive, and coming with great promises. There is a lot of interest focused on Trudeau worldwide right now - he is being called "the sexiest politician", and not just for his looks, but for the message he is bringing. Now what remains is for him to prove that he could do his job just as well as he maintains his looks.