Trudeau hopes a 'silent majority' is still willing to listen

He surely would reject any such comparison but, in a recent interview, Justin Trudeau briefly sounded just a little bit like Richard Nixon.

Taking part in an conversation with Village Media, the prime minister fielded questions about the dissent within his caucus and his party's descent in the polls. He was also asked about the "F--k Trudeau" flags that have — as much as any policy or political gesture — come to define this Liberal government's third term.

One of the interviewers remarked that he couldn't remember similar flags being flown for Stephen Harper or Jean Chretien. The unhappiness, he said, seemed "personal."

Trudeau said his first response when encountering such displays was to wonder what had driven people to a "place of that much anger." He also said such protests are being amplified by media outlets and social media platforms that elevate "really aggressive negative views."

"The problem is right now that there is a silent majority that is a little bit silent, and maybe wondering whether it's actually a minority. And you got a lot of good, thoughtful people saying, you know, 'I don't have anything personal against the leader, but everyone seems to hate him because I see all these flags and therefore, you know, he must be on his way out or he must be unpopular,'" Trudeau told Village Media. 

"And what I am continually reminded of when I have real conversations with people, whether it's in a lunchroom at a plant, or whether it's mainstreeting [in] a small town or sitting in a university classroom in the middle of a big city, is people are thoughtful. People are interested and people are open to having real discussions about the challenges we're facing."

While Nixon, the 37th president of the United States, didn't coin the phrase, he did popularize the notion of a "silent majority" in a televised address about the war in Vietnam in 1969. Those words conjured up an image of a mass of voters who could not be heard over the din of the protesters and activists clamouring for political and social change.

The "silent majority" became a populist, reactionary rallying cry. It was also deeply divisive. In Nixon's presidency, one can find the beginnings of the cracks that now define American politics (see Rick Perlstein's Nixonland).

For Trudeau, this appeal to the silent majority might merely reflect a lingering belief (or hope) that the flags don't express the feelings of most Canadians — that a sizeable number are still open to a conversation about the future of this country and to being persuaded to vote for a Liberal candidate.

Trudeau must also still believe that a quiet majority of his caucus is willing to support him, or is at least unwilling to move decisively against him.

By not entertaining a secret ballot vote on his leadership, Trudeau appears to be refusing to test that belief. But he's also essentially calling the dissenters on their initial bet. If a meaningful number of Liberals are actually eager to see him deposed — or to just put it to a vote — they're going to need to step forward and say so. Passive aggression isn't going to dislodge him.

Thirteen Liberal MPs have so far called for a secret ballot. That number could grow. But a week after a dramatic caucus meeting in which Trudeau was told that at least two dozen MPs wanted him to step aside, the rebels seem to have achieved the worst of both worlds: Trudeau is still the leader of their party, but he's also now a little bit weaker than he was a few weeks ago.

The dissenters might at least have helped push their party to adopt (belatedly) the sharper tone that has been on display over the past week.

"I think we have sort of brought a knife to a gun fight so far in how we're approaching advertising and how we're approaching the campaign in general," Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said Wednesday.