THE BEGINNING OF THE END OF THE LIBERAL PARTY!

That at least according to Stephen Harper, who caught up in the excitement of his first ballot victory at the Conservative Leadership Convention, all but offered to help Paul and Shirley Martin pack up the china and head on out of 24 Sussex Drive.

Harper claimed his first ballot victory by securing 56% of the vote, Belinda Stronach was the second place finisher with 35% of the vote, and Tony Clement taking a bit of the hit in the ego department, could only muster up 9.5% support.

Interestingly enough, despite the flurry of membership’s sold and instant Tories appearing around the country, only 37% of the 252,000 registered members of the new Conservative Party cast ballots on nomination day. Harper’s support was widespread across Canada with the exception of Atlantic Canada, where Ms. Stronach seemed to be the crowd favorite. Harper’s derogatory remarks about Atlantic Canada a few years back, no doubt still resonating around the coffee shops down east.

Harper’s acceptance speech had the usual pats on the back for his rivals, telling both Stronach and Clement that they have much to offer the Conservative party and what he believes will be a Conservative government after the next election. He also paid tribute to Peter McKay, who was more or less the broker of the Conservative/Alliance merger, his comments continuing to spur on speculation that McKay will be given a senior position in his newly unified caucus. Harper’s lukewarm reaction in Atlantic Canada will require someone to get the Conservative message across in a better light; McKay would fit that bill quite nicely.

But his main points were saved for Paul Martin and his Liberals. Comparing the Liberals to a cornered rat, Harper said that Paul Martin has spent his first 100 days running away from reports of Liberal corruption, but that Paul Martin is a Liberal, he can’t run away from that.

Which seems to be the theme, the Conservatives will tap into when the expected election is called. That of tying Paul Martin today; to the sins of the Liberals of yesterday.

With the right side of the political spectrum finally united in one dedicated unit, the days of vote splitting may soon come to an end. Harper needs to improve his profile across Canada, as an awful lot of Canadians are suspicious about his past comments on things such as transfer payments, taxation and health care to name a few.

The Conservatives will find that Canadians are willing to listen to what they have to say, such is the disgust at the current Liberal dysfunction. We wait for complete answers to our questions and a chance to judge if the Conservatives are truly ready to govern yet. The first kick at the media cat for the party comes with Rex Murphy’s Cross Country Check up, which will explore the appeal of the unified right on Sunday’s program.

Stephen Harper has a chance to win back a good number of old Tory supporters, who have parked their votes with the Liberals for the last ten years or so. The pressure is on him to reassure the nation that the nut bar days of the right are behind them.

He may not get to force the Martin’s out of their new digs in the next election, but he’s going to make sure that after election day, they have a lot less Liberal friends from the Hill dropping by for coffee.