The Liberal Party needs more than Justin Trudeau
Justin Trudeau is an overhyped commodity, one that doesn’t sell.
That’s one possible reading of the Liberal Party’s relatively anemic second quarter fundraising totals, a haul that leaves the party of government — and their celebrity leader — looking (a long way) up at the more quotidian Andrew Scheer and his Conservative opposition.
This year the Conservatives have raised over $12 million — almost double the Liberal total — their best-ever nonelection year haul. Put differently, Stephen Harper is gone, but the money is still pouring in.
Harper’s absence seems trivial until you consider that one of the main criticisms of the previous government was that it was a one-man band. But as the fundraising totals demonstrate, the one-man band left his instruments behind.
And despite the Liberal pledge to be an orchestra, they’re as one-note as their predecessors. It’s Trudeau’s PMO pulling the cabinet’s strings, with the prime minister the sole government pitch man. The one-man band has been replaced by a one-man brand.
We’re now three years into government and the Liberal Party has yet to figure out how to motivate its base to donate, other than flogging Trudeau far and wide. The latest play? Enter a contest to attend a “brunch reception” with Trudeau and one of the Queer Eye guys during Montreal Pride.
“Justin Trudeau and the Liberal team are working hard to ensure every Canadian has a real and fair chance at success — including standing with LGBTQ2+ Canadians in support of human rights and equality,” reads the entry form on the Liberal website.
I’m certainly not reaching for my wallet, and it’s not because I don’t support the cause. It’s that I don’t believe human rights or equality are under threat in Canada. Same goes for abortion, another subject the Liberals raise when talking to their base. If these things didn’t die after 10 years of Harper, they probably don’t need Trudeau’s protection.
Despite the Liberal pledge to be an orchestra, they’re as one-note as their predecessors.
To be fair, the Pride brunch isn’t a plea for dollars; it’s an appeal for email addresses. But if the Liberals can’t yank big bucks out of the addresses they already have, what good will a few more do?
And while it’s true those emails might eventually turn into future door-knockers for the next campaign, those volunteers will still need a reason to get out of bed. Bigger deficits (for much longer!) probably won’t do it. Nor will the fact they’ll be door-knocking in yet another first-past-the-post election. Maybe it will be the right to a legal high that gets them moving?
On second thought, it’s probably better to motivate the faithful using fear. That would explain the recent uptick in Liberal attacks on all Conservatives. According to the PMO the scary “altright” is coming to Canada to do frightful stuff like insist on secure borders and a properly functioning asylum system.
Speaking of illegal crossings, the Conservatives not only know what issues motivate their base, they know how to make them cough up their dough. Their war chest is bulging.
Conservative fundraising superiority in the post-per vote subsidy era is undoubtedly one reason why the Liberals tabled their recent bill to modernize the Elections Act.
Among other changes, the bill aims to neutralize big war chests by limiting pre-writ spending on “partisan” advertising to $1.5 million — something the Tories deployed to devastating effect against Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff.
The Liberals are clearly hoping to prevent a similar barrage ahead of next year’s election.
Yet, as with so many legislative initiatives under the Trudeau government, the elections bill now languishes in the House of Commons, its passage not assured ahead of the next election. If the bill withers the Liberals will need to do something else to neutralize the Tories and that something is likely to have to feature Trudeau heavily.
Of course, the problem with going all-in on one man is that it only takes one man to fall to fold the entire enterprise. The Liberals need to proceed with caution.
One more stumble — or grope — is all it could take to turn Justin Trudeau into yesterday’s news.