Okay, okay, I know a bunch of you probably snorted coffee out of your nose when you read that but this is a “what if” exercise so just humour me a little.
Insider intel on a Justin Trudeau run for the leadership varies daily so who knows, maybe he’s deep in thought somewhere, considering and reconsidering his options but if people in the know are to be believed, it’s anybody’s guess what will actually occur come June. For the purposes of this exercise, “let’s pretend” is probably as accurate as anything that’s floating around right now.
Last evening I was at a pub with a poli-curious Liberal friendly friend. I didn’t bring it up but the conversation drifted to the inevitable “What if Justin Trudeau ran for the Liberal Leadership” meme and what followed was an interesting free-for-all, which generated some interesting ideas, the best of which, I will relate to you below.
A portion of the discussion revolved around this article by David Bertschi which I think makes some excellent points. Here’s a quick quote:
What we need is a leadership contest that’s determined by broad popular support rather than narrow sectional appeal among the party base and a few connected friends with deep pockets that calls for a cap on leadership spending…making the leadership more accessible to a broader range of candidates.
Discussing the article with various people I’ve sent it to, the consensus seems to be that NO ONE wants to see a repeat of the spending spree we had in 2006. No more big money leadership campaigns. No residual debt that drags on year after year. You wanna say you’re the party that’s got fiscal sustainability nailed, you better learn to live it.
Note: Justin Trudeau is used herein as a theoretical model candidate because both Lib-friendly and I agreed he would probably be the only Liberal who might be even remotely maverick enough to go for such an unlikely campaign strategy as I’m about to present for your amusement. Of course I could be wrong and that would be awesome but like I said, unlikely except in an alternate universe.
So back to the real, the idea of capping the amount candidates can spend is an excellent way to democratize the race but why not raise the stakes even higher and challenge all the contenders to compete to see who can run the least expensive leadership campaign? Why not compete to see who is the most fiscally sustainable? See who can do the most with least?
And just to up the ante even more, not only challenge everyone to run the cheapest leadership campaigns the LPC has ever seen, issue a challenge to see who can raise the most money for the party before the race is over. Yes, you read that right. Raise big money for the party, not for individual leadership campaigns. Leave the party richer after the leadership race than it was when you started. Don’t tap out everyone’s bank accounts on the leadership race then turn around and ask for more come election time. Don’t leave embarrassing leadership debt that damages Liberal credibility as money managers. Put yourselves on the same kind of austerity program that Canadians all across the country are being told to do in this fragile unpredictable economy. For added fun you could even put virtual fundraising meters on the LPC site so members can see how much each candidate is raising for the party. Each team could also compete to create the coolest “Liberal” campaign swag with no cult of leadership, no candidate names or images. Leftover swag could then be sold after the race in the Liberal boutique to raise even more money.
What I’m talking about is transforming a dog-eat-dog, take no prisoners slugfest into what the corporate world refers to as a team building exercise. In that context, the person with the best leadership skills, generating the best ideas, who can really motivate others would be the one to rise to the top. These are real world leadership skills not just good-on-paper, great in the partisan bubble measurements of leadership. By making the challenges harder and the task tougher, you increase the probability the winner also walks away with respect for their efforts.
Make it team building and make it a humane campaign by having a single cross country tour with all the candidates traveling together on one big red bus or on the train like politicians did back in Laurier’s time. Instead of burning money on various chartered planes or buses, in effect, you could have an old school leadership showcase tour that runs from coast to coast to coast with set tour dates. The expenses for the tour could be shared equally by all candidates. This would provide an opportunity for Canadians to see all the candidates in action, competing with each other in a collegial, morale boosting venue where the real winners are the party and the members.
Friendly actually referenced the classic hockey movie SlapShot in articulating a kind of unassuming, fighting for survival, team environment where the only high sticking is aimed at our opponents, not at each other. At the end of the game, you haven’t just won or lost, you’ve done something good together. Instead of having people walking away feeling empty and disappointed because their candidate lost, everyone can look at the money they’ve raised and the new members they’ve signed up and feel like they’re an important part of the team going forward.
Is it really so hard to imagine running a leadership race that doesn’t end with the party divided and demoralized? Instead of segregated, competing hospitality suites, you hold all candidate mixers. No more war rooms and spin doctors who only live for the kill shot regardless of the cost to the team.
Remember those stereotypes in recent poll about Liberals being arrogant, out of touch and entitled? Show Canadians a leadership race like they’ve never seen before and you’ll blow those labels away. If you can construct a race that is competitive and tough, that calls for consensus building and allows limited resources to each candidate, it would be an excellent proving ground to find the person best suited for a real world Liberal leadership.
The game changer isn’t a star candidate, it’s the whole way the campaign is run. That’s the challenge. Should you choose to accept it.
