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A few days after Justin Trudeau won the leadership of the Liberal party in 2013, a senior government minister offered a private, withering assessment.

The worst critic he’d ever seen in Parliament, he sniffed. A dilettante. A poseur. A leader so inept he would drive disaffected Liberals to the dreaded New Democrats.

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If Trudeau was so weak, I asked, why had the Conservatives launched attack ads the day after he was chosen? “We had to define him,” he said.

But if Trudeau was this shallow, how was he a threat? Wouldn’t he collapse? From the minister, a shrug.

It seems the Conservatives were always more afraid of Trudeau than they would admit, whatever their contempt. Now we know why.

Justin Trudeau is the story of this campaign. He has defied expectations and confounded critics. He has emerged from five debates standing, sometimes glowing. He has drawn flattering profiles in the media. Strategically, he has outflanked the New Democrats and undercut the Conservatives. Tactically, his campaign has been innovative in staging events (using two airplanes) and making well-timed announcements.