At a quick glance, it would probably be fairly easy for many of us to conclude that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and American President Joe Biden have quite a bit in common aside from their age. They are both far to the left on most policy issues and they are not fans of free speech or even free movement when such are being exercised by their political opponents or critics. We've already covered many examples of this when it comes to Joe Biden, but you are likely also aware of Trudeau's treatment of the truckers in the Freedom Convoys, not to mention the vaccine mandates and lockdowns that were imposed previously. But now the two men have something else in common. Trudeau is currently floundering in the polls and has been for at least the past year. The situation is looking dire enough that Politico was compelled to publish an article this week declaring, "if you think Biden has troubles, just look at Trudeau."

Justin Trudeau is running out of time.

He has trailed in polls by double digits for nearly a year, and the outlook for the once popular prime minister is so grim that some old guard Liberals have been grumbling that maybe he should just step down and give someone else a shot.

To turn it around and win a fourth term, Trudeau has less than 17 months before he must hold an election and face off against an ascendant Conservative Party and its firebrand populist leader, Pierre Poilievre.

Trouble is, nothing he’s tried so far to improve his standing has worked.

Most of the language in this article could have been lifted almost word for word from so many articles written about Joe Biden over the past year or so. Trudeau is "running out of time." In reality, he still has 17 months until he has to call new elections, far more than the five months Joe Biden has, but the clock is definitely ticking. Some in Trudeau's own party have been suggesting that "maybe he should step aside" and give one of them a chance. Again, Democrats in Washington have been gently suggesting that about Biden as well.

Trudeau is trailing against "an ascendant Conservative Party." Here we see echoes of Trump and the way most of the GOP has coalesced around him. Further, Trudeau has launched all manner of gimmicks to attempt to bring his approval rating back up, but so far, "nothing has worked." You could once again swap in Biden's name and it would be indistinguishable from articles you read about Biden daily.

Much like Biden, Trudeau's inner circle is aware that the ship is rapidly taking on water. But also just like Biden, the Prime Minister and his aides and remaining allies insist that he has "no intention of throwing in the towel." Waiting in the wings, playing the role of Donald Trump with a side-order of back bacon is Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre. His party bills him as, "a lifelong conservative, a champion of the free market, and a fighter for people taking ownership of and responsibility for their own futures." Check out this aggressive criticism of Trudeau that he published just today.

People used to flee Nicaragua to come to Canada.

After 9 years of Trudeau, Canadians flee to go there. Wow. pic.twitter.com/OfdmyybOlw

— Pierre Poilievre (@PierrePoilievre) May 28, 2024

In response, Trudeau goes before the public and attempts to scare them by saying that Poilievre will "undo everything we have achieved."

Not to put too fine of a point on this, but maybe that's the problem Trudeau is dealing with. Perhaps people aren't so wild about all of these "achievements" in recent years. It wasn't just the lockdowns and the vaccine mandates, but the crushing of opposing opinions. While many in Canada previously seemed to be okay with the MAID program in extreme cases, Trudeau has been pushing assisted suicide for anyone who so much as comes down with a sniffle. He has surged further and further to the left and appears to be driving even some of his grudging supporters into the arms of the Conservative Party. 

Does that sound like anyone else you know? The one key difference between Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau is not so much their age but their cognitive ability. It's almost understandable that Joe Biden does and says some of the things we've observed because it's increasingly clear that he's not really running the government and isn't always even sure where he is. Much like Stormy Daniels, he frequently tried to speak to dead people on the rare occasions when he addresses a crowd. Trudeau, age 44, still seems to be relatively sharp and he's able to stay on message. Yet fewer and fewer Canadians like or are even listening to that message based on the most recent polling. It's too early to get anyone's hopes up, but this is reminiscent of some situations in America dating back to the 60s through the 80s. When liberals push too fast and too hard to the left, the rest of the country begins shifting back toward the right. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that those patterns are still able to be repeated.