I’m seeing a lot of Justin Trudeau everywhere.  I see him on TV.  I see him on Facebook and YouTube.  He’s a good looking chap, and yes, he has nice hair.  But this guy wants to be PM, and he doesn’t want to just be PM for prime ministerial’s sake.  He wants to be PM for you.  No, no, I’m not talking about ‘you’ who likes to sit around the Tim Horton’s all morning drinking coffee with your also-retired high school buddies.  I’m talking about you over there – short pants, latte-drinking, slick person who likes to ride your bike or Vespa, or a walk and take public transit kind of person.   That’s #realchange.

As I sat and watched the Liberal leader during his Mansbridge interview, so much became apparent to me.  Let’s start with the look (cue to readers – we also judge male politicians on style too).  Hair a little ragged (but still nice).  No jacket.  Sleeves rolled up. Single windsor knot on his tie with a wide collar and maybe the top button is undone too.  Well tailored pants, hemmed shorter than your father prefers.  His posture is forward and relaxed.  His feet are on the ground, but his ankles are perched on the chair showing everyone his nice shoes and designer socks.  It’s a modern, urban look – a look he parades around the country and in his ads.  In other words, he’s a youngish, hipster growing up to become Prime Minister.

During one of the debates, I was watching with an older, conservative gentlemen.  He noticed the tie knot too.  What else did he notice? Well, this senior noticed that a would-be prime minister would show up to a debate and not button his suit jacket up.  The horror.  I’m surprised he wore a jacket at all!

Then he starts to talk.  I’m not going to focus on the BS, he sort of says, I’m going to focus on what really matters (he says this over and over again).  Then, he talks of “investing in growth.”  Helping young families who are middle class goes with the territory.  And, oh, Mr. Harper doesn’t represent these people.  He’s big, bad, mean, and a control freak.  No millennial in their right mind wants to listen to their dad tell them what to do.  Harper doesn’t wear sweater vests anymore.  He’s no longer warm and fuzzy.

Then, of course, comes my favourite part of the Mansbridge interview, which is what he says in comparison to his dad.  You see, his dad started making the PMO bigger and institutionally dominant, and it hasn’t stopped growing since.  Justin says his dad did what was right for his time, but this is Justin’s time – a time much different than dad’s generation, and this generation expects things to be done differently.  #realchange

There we have it.  An explicit expression of generational change.  Trudeau says he loves the symmetry of that visual.  It’s because it fits the brand rather well.  Then, journalists start talking about how he tours businesses and finds out about the latest app or widget.  That’s new economy.  The other stuff is old economy, and that’s so 1970s.

Then on policy, Trudeau wants to tax the 1% and give the money in the middle class.  He wants to stop giving child care cheques to millionaires (I wonder how many millionaires actually receive them – but that’s a different story). He wants to invest in growth, hedging that we should spend now and pay for it later.  Build roads, transit, more urban communities that are pedestrian and cycle friendly, and add public transit to the mix.  That’s new planning stuff.  Car friendly, carbon-consuming planning – that’s old.

But what do we know about millennials? It’s a hard group to wrap our heads around.  We know they are accustomed to borrowing for something now that will pay dividends down the road.  That’s how university and college education is funded.  We know they buy bigger homes than their parents, even though they don’t really need to, but why not buy something while the borrowing is cheap, right?  We know that millennials as a whole are more socially progressive and have a more casual take on crime and punishment than older generations.  So, what does Trudeau talk about? All of these things.  Older generation be damned.

Research is showing that millennials are favouring government policies in the same way that they live.  However, it is also true that they hold contrasting views on government.  American research has shown, for example, that while millennials favour taxing the rich to give to the poor, they also don’t like increasing taxes if they so happen to be at the cusp of that rich definition (or expect to be in their life time).  They are for expanding social programs in health and education, while also spending money on infrastructure, but they also agree that government spends too much and does too much.  It’s a confusing mess, and Trudeau seems to get it only half right on policy.

But that need not matter much.  The biggest generational conflict during an election is before us, and Trudeau may be slow playing his plan to become PM.  He knows if he sets himself up right this time, it just might happen next time.  And maybe, just maybe, voters may look to him to be that new #realchange PM this October (note the fact that we’re even using a hashtag here).  If Trudeau becomes PM, our grandparents just won’t understand it. They won’t understand him, nor will they understand his style.  Move on over grandpa.  Those entitled slick kids are gunning to control you.

N.B. Trudeau actually belongs to Generation X.  Who are those guys and gals anyway?