Justin Trudeau Just Showed American Democrats How to Win the Next Election

[eridani]

http://www.thenation.com/article/what-american-democrats-can-learn-from-justin-trudeau/

Trudeau surprised almost everyone by running a campaign that veered left on economics—so much so that analysts noted that, on several critical measures, the Liberals outflanked the historically social-democratic NDP.

Trudeau did not run as a radical, which makes sense, as he is not one. But he did make a reasonably radical break with the tepid politics of too many political leaders in this age of austerity. Instead of fretting endlessly about spending and budget deficits, he declared that his priorities would be job creation and policies to benefit the middle class. And he said he would invest in the future, rather than cheating it with austerity cuts.

Trudeau proposed to tax the rich in order to fund programs for everyone else, declaring that “We can do more for the people who need it, by doing less for the people who don’t.” (And, notably, he coupled that concern for people who need economic help with a warm embrace of Canada’s ethnic and racial diversity that was starkly different from the Donald Trump–like messaging about immigrants and religious minorities that Harper employed in the final days of the campaign.)

More vital even than the promise of fair and progressive taxation after so many years of Harper’s of-the-rich, for-the rich, by-the-rich governance, however, was Trudeau’s proposal to invest massively in job-creating infrastructure programs. To fund the investment, Trudeau proposed that Canada could and should accept a reasonable level of deficit spending.

Explaining that there are many kinds of deficits, Trudeau argued that “the fiscal deficit isn’t the one that concerns Canadians and certainly doesn’t concern economists that much. It is the infrastructure deficit that is so concerning to so many people. That’s what’s slowing down our growth.”

[msongs]

1. run a young(ish) pretty boy with a babe wife lol nt

[tecelote]

5. Exactly why I'm for Benie

What a beautiful couple!

[Scuba]

2. Meanwhile, America's Democratic Party leaders continue their march to the right. This is why ...

... Republicans control most of the states and all of Congress.

[Hortensis]

7. NO. The opposite is happening. As it happened in Canada.

As for your mistaken notions of how and why the nation moved right, much has been written on that, and on how the GOP has taken states and electoral seats recently. Much of it is fairly short and very readable. Clue though: It starts with the people. Another clue: Money IS power.

[Scuba]

8. So DWS support of Republicans, Obama's latest - bank deregulation - etc, etc, are leftist policies?

Man, what are you smoking?

Here in Wisconsin we lost to Walker three times by running corpo-Dems against him. Meanwhile, a "Madison liberal lesbian" wins election to the US Senate.

Wake the fuck up!!

[Hortensis]

10. Wisconsin, huh? Well, bitterness and downheartedness are more understandable.

I've often wondered what people were smoking up there myself.

Your most basic problem isn't the facile "Democratic corporatism" you like to use as a blanket complaint for everything, it's that Wisconsin Democrats are clustered heavily in a few urban voting districts, while Republicans spread all over the state take the rest.

This skews elections in favor of the GOP and has been happening all across the U.S., even though MORE PEOPLE VOTE DEMOCRAT THAN REPUBLICAN.

The outsize power of corporations is a very big part of what is wrong with America, but you're not going to fix either that or our broken (not)-representative democracy by just whimpering hopelessly about "corporatism," and "Democrats," any more than you can repair a broken car engine by complaining that there's no point in wishing the air conditioning could be fixed.

We can never fix the kind of foolish people who created a billionaire class to run a republic. We can only make sure their votes don't count more than others'.

Fix the vote.
Get money out of politics.
Slap a 90% tax on the ultra-wealthy until they are just reasonably wealthy. We created them, we can destroy them.

[Scuba]

11. Gerrymandering does not impact statewide races. What does though ...

... is running corpo-Dems who fail to inspire voters to the polls.

[Hortensis]

12. Who said ANYTHING about gerrymandering?

If you like having your "Democratic Party Corporatism" string pulled so much, here's something intended to do so. Enjoy.

[Scuba]

14. You made the comment about Dem voters being in large blocks in urban areas with ....

... Republicans spread across the state taking the rest.

Fact is, in state-wide elections corpo-Dems lose (see Barrett, Barrett and Burke) while progressives win (see Baldwin).

The problem isn't that Dems are congregated in urban areas, it's that corpo-Dems do not inspire anyone to the polls.

[Hortensis]

16. Oh.

[pampango]

3. " a warm embrace of Canada’s ethnic and racial diversity that was starkly different from the Donald

Trump–like messaging about immigrants and religious minorities that Harper employed in the final days of the campaign."

Trudeau has a lot to prove as he forms a new government, and seeks to keep his promises. He may disappoint generally, and he is likely to disappoint the left and organized labor on some economic questions—including, perhaps, the debate over the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. (The labor-backed NDP, which formed the official opposition in the last Canadian parliament, suffered a significant setback this year. But it will still hold 44 seats in the new parliament, more than 10 percent of the total. As such, it will be positioned to aggressively challenge Trudeau on trade issues, and to pressure him to make real his campaign-season promises to take on failed austerity policies.)

“We beat fear with hope. We beat cynicism with hard work. We beat negative politics,” Trudeau told the cheering crowd. “In Canada, better is always possible.”

With an embrace of progressive taxation, public investment and a humane approach to economics, Democrats could in 2016 celebrate President Obama’s accomplishments while holding out the promise that, “In America, better is always possible.”

The Conservative opposition's campaign based on 'fear' certainly sounds familiar to us in the US.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

4. Just as important, Trudeau ran a very positive unifying campaign, like Obama and Reagan.

... like Obama and Reagan who both won big and won two terms.

[Chakab]

6. What exactly was "unifying" about Reagan launching his campaign at the Neshoba County Fair

(where those civil rights organizers were murdered) to give a speech about "states' rights"? Or any of the rest of the race baiting directed at the black community that he did during his entire political career?

Or are you talking about the unification of disaffected Southern bigots who still occasionally voted for Democrats under the Republican banner?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

18. Unifying of their parties: Liberal, Democratic, Republican respectively

How to campaign: Be positive to the country and unifying to your party.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

9. Canada went as it did because they recognized Harper's nastiness

They became uncomfortable with his war mongering, terrorism, fear , fear , fear bullshit that allowed his hero Dumbya to steal his second term.

Unfortunately, American politics thrives on that shit.

[whatthehey]

13. Yes he did - have the Canadian electorate

Which at least has some shred of rationalism, unlike the majority of ours.

[Octafish]

15. “We can do more for the people who need it, by doing less for the people who don’t.”

Thoughtcrime since TrickleDown.

[Scuba]

17. /\_/\_This right here_/\_/\

[Bernardo de La Paz]

20. As Trudeau says "Just watch me"

So did a Canadian prime minister in the past, and he delivered a new Constitution that is widely termed the most progressive, most copied constitution since its inception (1980s).

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

21. I don't think the "just watch me" episode

was Mr. Trudeau at his most progressive.

[Blue_Tires]

22. The United States isn't Canada...

[B Calm]

23. Trudeau wants marijuana legalized. Democrats should take notes on how to win.