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A survey by the Angus Reid Institute found that just a third of Liberal voters made their choice based on the party’s actual policies. Instead, 45 per cent were motivated mainly by who they wanted to defeat. Justin Trudeau remains prime minister not because he continues to excite voters with his personal magnetism, enticing vision or superior leadership skills, but because a lot of people really didn’t want Andrew Scheer or Jagmeet Singh in his place. Or maybe they wanted Singh but figured he couldn’t pull off a victory, so it was better to go with Trudeau, even if they weren’t wild about him or his record.

Scheer didn’t do much better: Angus Reid found 65 per cent of Conservative voters said they made their choice because they didn’t like the alternative.

Photo by Marc Grandmaison/CP

Canadian politics has thus become a contest to convince voters the other guy stinks more than our guy. The recent federal race followed in the tracks of Ontarians who made Doug Ford premier overwhelmingly because he wasn’t Kathleen Wynne or any other Liberal. A tree stump could have served as Conservative leader and defeated the Ontario Liberals a year ago, so reviled was the party at that point. And while Jason Kenney has skills Ford could only dream of, he is premier of Alberta today largely because Albertans fiercely wanted to prevent another four years of New Democratic Party government.

We’re not alone in turning elections into contests for who is least worst. Donald Trump is president because 60 million Americans were so disgusted by the self-serving circus of Washington that they opted for the guy who was no part of it, over the woman who was a core member. It’s not impossible that Trump may find himself out of office after a single term because enough Americans are disturbed at his character and antics that they’re willing to accept Joe Biden or Elizabeth Warren (or a Biden-Warren ticket?) in his place, no matter how unenthusiastic they may feel. And voters in the United Kingdom are preparing for an election that is almost certain to turn on the question: How scared are you of Jeremy Corbyn?