Is Andrew Scheer the antidote to Trudeau’s poisonous personality?

With their vote, they will back the person they believe best represents their views, and who they believe will serve the nation best.

As of now, it appears to be a two-horse race, with current PM Justin Trudeau and CPC Leader Andrew Scheer neck and neck with one another in the polls, each of them are doing their best to pull away as the race inches closer to the October finish line. Though Scheer is currently ahead by a decent chunk, there is still plenty of time for Canadians to make up their minds.

One of the major shifts in political discourse happened in 1960, when John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon participated in the world’s first televised presidential debate.

A sweaty, blotchy Richard Nixon faced off against a young, tanned and healthy JFK in the debate that changed the world.

TV viewers thought Kennedy won the debate easily. Radio listeners mostly called it a draw, but there weren’t nearly as many of them.

Since that debate, public persona became just as important as policy. Cult of Personality-type figures continued to pop up, with a strong personality being a major advantage for politicians during campaign season.

Our neighbours to the south are dealing with back-to-back larger-than-life politicians, with eight media-heavy years of Obama being followed by billionaire businessman and longtime TV persona Donald Trump’s presidency. And Trump is a man who has utilized media like no other President before him, especially on Twitter

The theatrics of American Politics had been avoided entirely by nearly every Prime Minister whose last name wasn’t Trudeau. “Exciting” isn’t exactly the word one would use to describe Stephen Harper, Paul Martin, or Brian Mulroney. Besides PM Jean Chretien, who had some pizzazz to him, Canadian Prime Ministers tended to be on the boring side, and as we’re learning now, that was a good thing.

Our current young, hip prime minister has a strong persona, branding himself as the social justice prime minister. He’s tall, handsome, and he’s not afraid to virtue signal.

During Trudeau’s time in office, Canadians have watched his personality unfold. Trudeau tried being an honest, transparent PM, yet ended up being one who pulls the strings to help out his rich friends, while unapologetically pandering to his far-left base.

Perhaps it’s time to return to our roots, and make politics in Canada boring again. And what better candidate can accomplish this than CPC leader Andrew Scheer? Scheer, the father of five from Saskatchewan, may be the perfect antidote to Trudeau’s poisonous personality.

Andrew Scheer is milquetoast.

His policies are uninspired. For many on the right, he’s not conservative enough. Mainstream media outlets are encouraging the Liberal Party’s idea that Scheer is aligned with far-right ethno-nationalists like Faith Goldy.

The fact of the matter is, Andrew Scheer is not an “alt-right adjacent.”

He is an incredibly tamed conservative, and his political existence is not a threat to anyone.

The Conservative Party had a candidate run for its leadership who was far from boring in Maxime Bernier. Scheer narrowly beat out Bernier, who has since gone on to start the People’s Party of Canada.

Bernier represented a lot of what Scheer did not in terms of personality. He was slick, charming, had bold policies that were not typical for a Canadian politician, and although he came very close to winning, Canadian conservatives opted for the more subdued candidate.

It feels like our nation’s collective heart rate has skyrocketed, and perhaps the best solution for such a problem is to elect someone who can slow the pulse of the nation down.

Canada voted for someone who claimed transparency would be a cornerstone of their government. With that promise being long broken, we now look towards the future.

We tried a young and hip politician. It hasn’t worked out well. It’s time to switch out from young and hip, and try out young and square.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.