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This is where an objective observer might suggest the new prime minister’s self-assurance is impeding his grasp of simple truths. Since the moment he first made serious inroads on the Canadian consciousness, with his eulogy at his father’s funeral, Trudeau’s political career has been inseparable from his name. The prospect that he might one day lead the party was a common observation long before he even sought election. You might as well argue that being named Bush or Clinton or Kennedy has no impact on a U.S. candidate’s bid for office.

Trudeau concedes his name opened doors, but “the way I was raised was that I have to work two or three times as hard” to walk through it. Maybe. But a lot of other candidates, named Jones or Singh or Feldstein or Abdalla might suggest that it’s no small bonus having easy access to a rapt media eager to put your name in headlines or a built-in cheering section still enamoured of past glories, imagined or otherwise, when trying to attract a bit of attention to your campaign. Sure he still has to deliver, but plenty of excellent candidates fail miserably because they can’t get the ear of the public. Trudeau not only had its ear, he was born with a built-in bullhorn.

Trudeau owes his success in a very big way to not one, but two prime ministers. His father and his family put him on the stage, gave him the spotlight and provided an enormous reserve of party goodwill to see him through the learning stage. Stephen Harper made the victory possible by wearing out his welcome with voters and running a notably nasty campaign that alienated potential supporters. Canadians were going to vote against Harper one way or another, and the only question was which party they’d opt for: the Liberals or the NDP. Thomas Mulcair’s late-campaign stumbles drove the vote to the Liberals.

That’s politics. To the victor go the spoils. Trudeau’s success or failure will be his own. But he would be deceiving himself if he thinks his party was elected on its policies rather than his personality, or that Canadians see him in any other context than as Margaret and Pierre’s son. And the bubble of good feelings will burst pretty quickly if he lets too much of the family ego slip to the surface as he did in London.

National Post

KellyMcParland<