08.29.2012 03:28 PM

Hot Grit rumours: you read ’em here first

One, I am verily informed that Mr. Trudeau is going to run. If accurate, that is great, great news.

Two, I am told the Trudeau campaign will make a point of insisting that all of the team (or its bosses) are under age 40. If accurate, that is the stupidest idea I have ever heard. (And not just because I’m a boring old fart, either.)

There you go. Speculate and pontificate away!

84 Comments

  1. Tiger says:

    You guys will put him through his paces, but if he holds up strongly through it all, I’d be surprised if you choose not to pick him.

    Youth, charisma, plus stinging the Dippers on the Quebec question. And is on record calling a Tory cabinet minister a piece of s##t.

    That’s the combination of qualities and passions that the party faithful will want. (And are probably right to.)

  2. John says:

    Hope you’re on the tean, even if you are a boring old fart. Maybe there’s an age exemption for people in active pun rock bands.

  3. John says:

    I meant PUNK rock bands. D’oh!

  4. michael hale says:

    Is “younger than 40” just a way to ensure no old battles are re-fought? Still stupid, but at least that would have some purpose. (If true, it’s also a rule that will be broken in the first two weeks.)

  5. AP says:

    Yeah that is a stupid idea.

  6. Jenny says:

    The LPC cleanup starts by carving out the old farts! Senator Smith and yourself included! BRAVO!

  7. Np says:

    Trudeau represents the past and the future of the Liberal Party. He would do well to stay the hell away from the present. Why? Because of stupid gimmicky ideas like this. Either someone told him this was a good idea (and he’s going along with it) or he came up with it himself (and no one is telling him it’s a bad idea). In either case, it tells us that he’s not fit to run and his advisers are morons (same song as the last federal election, just in a different key). The fact that the people around him are trying to win a context like this by using gimmicky ideas like this means many Liberals have learned nothing from the holy ass whopping they received in the last election. Enough gimmicks, enough image, enough one dimensional contributions to an ever eroding national political discourse. Enough Bull S**t. Give us some damn substance!!! Age of the people in the party is not the problem; character is.

    Unless of course this isn’t true. In which case, I’ll just see myself out…

    • Musings says:

      I agree with you. They’ll look like a bunch of giddy school girls on their first date. Bring it on. I’ll enjoy watching them make one gaffe after another.

  8. The Dude says:

    As if Trudeau would not somehow seek advice from experienced older people. Maybe the official team might be young, but …

  9. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    They are dead wrong. They can’t and won’t win the country without a mix of new thinkers and seasoned veterans.

    Think back to the past and the invaluable contribution of The Rain Maker. Ditto for Allan MacEachen. Need I say more? Don’t think so.

  10. Iris Mclean says:

    As a sixty-four year old, I find the term “old fart” being applied to a fifty-something year old young fart pretty depressing.
    If you can still play guitar or bass while standing up, you are NOT an old fart.

    • LMAO, how about if you can still pee standing up? I am afraid I never learned to play guitar.

      • Marc-André Chiasson says:

        And, as a sixty-six year old who still picks up the guitar on occasion and who is still able to pee standing up (but not while playing the guitar), I resent the term “old fart”. Now if someone called me a “young fart”, that would be a different story. As for Trudeau, I can’t believe he’d support such an asinine edict.

      • G Betts says:

        All this farting — it’s starting to stink in here, fellas.

  11. James Bow says:

    Geez.

    If I were a Liberal, I wouldn’t be able to be on Trudeau’s team.

    I just turned 40 last April. I am now, officially, old.

  12. Dan F says:

    I’m well under 40, and I think its the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. Isn’t it possible that some of the folks who won 3 straight for JC (and 3 more for DM) know a little something about how things work?

  13. Spiro says:

    Gerald Butts is in charge of Mr. Trudeau’s campaign. He is 41 years old.

  14. Musings says:

    That decision of no one over 40 is stupid and shows how immature Trudeau and his team will be. Is that what you want to run the Liberals? They have no experience, no maturity and obviously, no brains. So there you go. Charisma and youth doesn’t cut it. It doesn’t equate wisdom and experience.

  15. Patrick says:

    Not diss to Warren’s elite sources, but this is pretty old news. The under-40 thing is new, I suppose.

    It’s been clear Trudeau is in the race for months. This is probably the worst kept secret in Canadian politics today.

    Not sure I have as optimistic a view of his political capacity or, um, his unwavering fidelity as some on the forum.

    If Canada just needed a leader with a pretty mane, we’d elect a lion. Great mane on those guys. Joking aside, with great respect I’m unconvinced Trudeau has the substance, the strength or the patience to take on a Harper or a Mulcair.

    This is your last chance to fuck up at a leadership convention, my dear Grit compatriots. Wth the Iggy and Dion debacles, at least your movement retained strenth and inertia it sorely lacks now. Don’t waste it, for this time you surely won’t get another. I respectfully suggest you don’t chase the shiny piece of lint off the cliff.

  16. Brutus110 says:

    Seeing how 50 is the new 40… Sounds well thought out

  17. wsllyj says:

    Justin will be 43 years old when the election is called.

    I don’t think that he has though that one through very well.

  18. star sail says:

    Good try there old buddy; but; he is not going to run. I keep telling you, try listening. My “best” guess he will run next time. There children are still a little to young to benefit the house and cotage (?).

  19. james curran says:

    I guess he won’t need the money I’m about to raise for his campaign. I figure this makes Gerard and Omar non-involved in his campaign? And Holland must be the key man then being 37 and all?

  20. James Bow says:

    Seriously, though: if this report is accurate, it is a silly move. It strikes me as being similar in a way to Stockwell Day’s proclamation to not campaign on the Lord’s Day. It’s one thing to let one’s religious beliefs inform one’s political actions, but it’s quite another to go shouting, “Look at me! Look at me! I’m faithful!”

    Such a stunt — and that’s what it would be, if true — is a clear case of “Look at me! Look at me! I’m youthful!”

    You either are or you aren’t. Drawing attention to it makes it feel phoney.

  21. Iris Mclean says:

    Didn’t Bob Dylan say “Never trust anyone over thirty”?

  22. bigcitylib says:

    Teenage Jesus sucks. Garneau rules. LPoC can only win if they choose the Spaceman.

    • Woody says:

      Standing there alone,
      the ship is waiting.
      All systems are go.
      “Are you sure?”
      Control is not convinced,
      but the computer
      has the evidence.
      No need to abort.
      The countdown starts.

  23. Geoffrey L. says:

    No over 40 rule is ageism as bad as no under 40, so yeah, that’s stupid.

  24. Jim says:

    Best. News. Ever.

    See you in the afterlife, Liberal Party!

    Bwahahahahaha!

  25. michael hale says:

    Sesame Street is 43. How can Sesame Street be too old, for Chrissakes? Elmo is as Lib red as they come.

  26. Jim says:

    I am the Justin! I love Canada! I just don’t love older people with experience! If you love them, then you obviously don’t love Canada! This is a new age made for young people! We will prevail! All of you older people, with experience, advice and money can just die!

    I just can’t stop laughing at the message…if true.

    Beside, who needs any votes over 40.

    Bwahahahaha!

  27. Jim says:

    I am just looking forward to the election debates. It will be nice to hear Maggie speak on the world stage again.

    I predict a 175 to 200 seat majority for the Cons next election…just put Justin on TV.

  28. Jim says:

    Raise all you can Curran. You will need it, you old hanger on. Money wont be the deciding factor. There are a fair amount of happy people in Canada right now and most dont identify as Liberal supporters. I know the truth must hurt, but.

  29. Sean says:

    I can think of a lot of people who are still under 40, who are greatly responsible for the Liberal mess of the last decade.

  30. Jim says:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvaYgr5ClXA

    Seriously?!? C’mon Libs, you can do better. Garneau would at least give you a chance.

    • Warren says:

      Marc is an amazing guy. I hope he runs!

      • Spiro says:

        Wow what a passionate and forceful clip of Trudeau. When Canadians see that passion from Justin the LPC will beback!

        Thanks for posting. I had not seen Justin with such determined conviction. Very eloquent. Substantive and perfectly communicated.

  31. AP says:

    I grow old … I grow old …
    I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

    Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
    I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
    I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

    I do not think that they will sing to me.

    T.S. Eliot

  32. dave says:

    The team bosses have to be under 40…so now the old farts are crying “I wanna be a boss! I wanna be a boss!’

    Maybe what the young bosses will need is some self sacrificing old farts as mentors. Are there any such creatures among the old farts of the Libs? Or are the old fart Libs just about what their critics say they are, just a bunch of wanna be bosses…looking for lots of entitlements.

  33. JStanton says:

    … relax. If he runs, he isn’t about to hobble himself out of the gate, by putting himself in the hands only of debutantes.

    So far, it’s all been well-calculated. Why believe he’s suddenly gone silly?

    .

  34. Gregory Alan Elliott says:

    Sorry you TrudeauMania morons, NDP beat you to it in the last election…

    It is getting very boring to watch the Liberals fail with such predictability.

    Just assimilate with the NDP… And drop that tired “brand” known as the Liberal Party of Canada.

  35. Dan says:

    Warren, I actually think the “no one over 40” idea is a good one for two reasons. The first are those optics that you guys always care about: hard to claim Trudeau is a puppet of the old guard or that he’ll restore the old Liberal corruption if he’s made a concerned effort to purge out those oldtimers. The second is it will actually be true.

    I mean, it’s possible to clean house without such a strict rule. But then the optics won’t be as clear. Just for example, I don’t see you as part of the typical Bay Street powerbrokers, but there’s no doubt that having a top Chretien guy on his team creates a narrative of “business as usual”.

    I get it. There’s a risk that Trudeau does this, and screws up his chance of winning.

    But here’s the irony.

    For the Liberal party to be about something, they need to stop caring so much about winning.

    Trudeau, in cleaning house, is making his campaign about more than just winning.

  36. Oh L Oh says:

    Wasn’t Iggy’s OLO run by a group of young hotshots after WK left? Turned out real well didn’t it!

    • Tiger says:

      No, the young hotshots were the ones fired in the purge that helped to lead WK to leave.

      After that, it was old hands, I believe.

  37. Brachina says:

    If both rumours are true I’m betting Liberalwho really is Justin.

    So you Liberal have an vital choice before you for the next election.

    Do you want the the next debates to be between:

    Teenage Jesus vs. The Grizzly vs. The Robot

    Or

    The Spaceman vs. The Grizzly vs. The Robot

    When did Canadian politics become the coolest comic book ever?

  38. Bill Owen says:

    If the over 40 thing keeps Rae and Dion out of the mix, I am all for it.

  39. Philippe says:

    Architect behind youth vote to Obama = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Axelrod – Born, 1955.

    Grizzled veterans know a thing or 2 about being in the trenches. Don’t be idiots.

  40. frmr disgruntled Con now Happy Lib says:

    No one on the Trudeau campaign team over forty?…..perhaps they’ll have better luck getting out the 20 something vote…….you know, the most informed generation ever, but many of whom cant seem to make the effort to vote on election day……
    Ageism works both ways, Im afraid…….
    PS Good luck with pressing the flesh and making those personal connections that make people open their pocketbooks….sorry, I forgot, thats all taken care of by social media now…..not.
    Signed,
    Bitter old fart

  41. !o! says:

    Nothing like a rumor to stir up the blogospheres in the weeks before a press release. Preferably one at the limits of believability that intersects with real and/or imagined issues that gets people to imagine the worst and get surprised by how beautiful reality is when the rumor is dispelled. When no good news is available, dispelling of an odd rumor serves nearly as well.

  42. As much as I think Justin will be a good leader – for both the liberals and Canada – I don’t think this is the right time. Not just that he has family obligations, or that he could perhaps use a few more years experience. It is also that the LPC don’t need a good leader to go up against Harper. they need a mad-dog, foaming at the mouth, you can’t ignore me, person.

    Harper has exactly 1 political technique – ignoring you. Sadly, this works. It leaves the Opposition asking the same questions, day after day, getting no where and looking ineffective. (Not that I am singling out the Opposition, the media has the same issue.) What is needed across the floor is someone that Harper cannot ignore, that it will be impossible for him to sit quietly and avoid.

    What the Liberals need is a John Crosbie. A Carolyn Parrish. Someone with a huge mouth and big attitude who will make HARPER look ineffective by holding his tongue. (Elizabeth May is right – this is not about winning votes now, this is about taking down Harper).

    I think the Liberals smartest move would be to entice Danny Williams to lead them. Most of the complaints about Danny are related to the way he ran our province. Since he wouldn’t be running anything, that negates those arguements. And if you want big mouth and big attitude and mad-dog attachs on Harper, I can think of no one better.

  43. Ronald O'Dowd says:

    Warren,

    It’s really a shame that Michaëlle Jean isn’t politically ambitious. Can’t you just feel the mutual loving feeling running between her and this Prime Minister! But I can dream, can’t I!!!!?? Now THAT would be an entertaining campaign animated by predictable and steady fireworks.

  44. deb says:

    with some hair dye, and a few trending references,,,the oldschool will be able to sneak into the club…I am sure most can act under 40 with ease!

  45. Jeff Dunn says:

    “If accurate, that is great, great news.”

    That’s a joke if I’ve ever heard one. Justin running is not great news, it’s going to ruin this party. He’s going to get ripped to shreds by the Cons and NDP.
    If this is true, I’m going to be very disappointed.

    #worstideaever

  46. GPAlta says:

    How old were you in 1993, Warren? And in 1997? And in 2000? Maybe you should take the age limit as a personal compliment.

    I’m 36 and I would love to help Justin

  47. Realist says:

    Is the whole Trudeau campaign going to be full of gimmicks like this?

  48. Peter says:

    I’m a little surprised no one has yet picked up the implications of his running against Deborah Coyne. The personal sub-texts will be fascinating, especially when the legacy of PET comes up, as it will ad nauseum. Can you imagine a convention with the cameras panning back and forth between Maggie and her? Real Housewives of Outremont.

    As a Con voter (not member), I’d be far more inclined to second guess with Garneau than Justin, who will inevitably try to replay 1968. Checking out Lib blogs and speeches, all I’ve heard for the last year are rousing, almost desperately pained, calls for vision, leadership, new ideas, etc., but apart from general non-specific blathering about the environment, legalizing pot and musing about how badly we need a constitutional dust-up with the West, nobody really seems to have any meat to put on the bones. You seem to be in the grip of intense, dreamy young activists (and nostalgic Boomers) who are convinced they can ride to power on an endless litany of Harper bogeyman stories. “If only we can make the dummies out there see the horror…”. If there is no place anymore for cynical, pragmatic old farts like Warren, you may be in bigger trouble than you realize.

    To be fair, PET didn’t give too many specifics of what he intended to do either, but it was a very different zeitgeist then. I could be wrong, but I don’t think the public will respond too well to a young playboy type who talks as if Canada were a blank canvas on which he will paint a masterpiece of creative governance. Plus surely that crazy statement about preferring to live in an independant Quebec than Harper’s Canada will bite him hard, especially after next week. I’d love to be the reporter who sticks a microphone in his face and asks him whether he would prefer to live in Harper’s Canada or Marois’s Quebec.

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