DUCK HUNTING WITH THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY

The three Conservative hopefuls spent their final night of campaigning taking shots at the Liberal party. The wounded duck nature of Liberals these days, giving hope and anticipation to the assembled delegates this weekend. With the Party picking a new leader tomorrow, tonight was given over to the candidates to make their final pitches.

Belinda Stronach took to the Metro Toronto Convention centre stage first, moving away from the podium and standing on the stage resembling Celine Dion as she turned, gestured and tried to get her points across to the gathered audience. Saying she had torn up her prepared speech, preferring to speak from the heart, Stronach painted herself as the candidate that would appeal to all Canadians from coast to coast.

Next up was Stephen Harper who took the safe and steady approach of recounting his work for in bringing the two parties together. He also reminded the audience that they need to be ready to take over the government should the people decide in their favor. He said this was not the time to turn the party over to a neophyte or a regional politician.

The final speaker Tony Clement chose to operate from the crowd, taking a page from the Bill Clinton I’m here for you style, Clement made his speech from the audience, after showing a brief video. His theme was he has cabinet experience from his days in the Ontario government, and he and only he would be ready to lead a Conservative government.

All three spent a fair portion of their speeches attacking Paul Martin’s conversion to accountability for the Liberal party. They all said that the time had come for Canadians to be given a clear option on voting day, a chance to feel comfortable with the party and its blueprint for the future. The hard hitting attacks on Martin, give us a sign of what an election campaign may look like in the not too distant future.

270,000 Conservatives will be voting at riding associations on Saturday. Harper at the moment the perceived front runner, He is hoping for a first ballot victory, coming up short on that ballot may give Tony Clement enough pick up votes to win on a second ballot. The dark horse candidate is Stronach; no one is quite sure what to make of her candidacy. If she’s been successful in pulling in delegates, she could make Harper’s Saturday afternoon a long drawn out tense affair. But for all intents and purposes, the nomination is expected to go to Stephen Harper.

With the Liberals wounded by the many scandals circulating around them, the time is certainly not going to be any better for a Conservative rebirth. The long march back to respectability begins Saturday at 2:30 EST, 11:30 PST. Hunting season to be declared a little later in the month!