I caught the end of the Conservative debate yesterday. Now I'm obviously not a Conservative so I can't say what appeals to them, but it seemed to me like there were three kinds: your traditional garden variety conservatives, 'tonight's entertainment (Kevin O'Leary) and bonkers church lady (Kellie Leitch).
Kevin O'Leary has the charisma but I don't think he has the policies to interest people. If he's the Canadian Trump, he's not going to excite people by saying he'll renegotiate trade deals and shut down immigration. He seems pro free trade and pro-immigration. So what does he have going for him except the media associating him with Trump?
Kellie Leitch for all her spit and bile has no charisma. You can't just be a nutcase and expect the nutcases to support you. Nutcases are picky. She's not commanding in the way a wannabe populist needs to be.
So if I was a Con, and since Michelle Rempel isn't running, I'd vote Lisa Raitt for fuhrer.
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O'Leary is pro immigration because his mother was from Lebanon and his father from Ireland. I heard him on the radio lately and he spoke glowingly of his deceased mother and her Lebanese decent but said nothing of his deceased father and his Irish decent, for whatever reason...
Conservative leadership hopeful Kellie Leitch has shot back at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, after he warned that “fringe voices” like Leitch could gain traction under a new voting system.
Leitch also added some confusion as to why her controversial former campaign manager Nick Kouvalis resigned, saying he quit over “health reasons” rather than Kouvalis’ explanation that he was attracting too much attention from her campaign.
Speaking to CTV’s Power Play on Friday, Leitch said she was “quite surprised” by the prime minister’s recent comments.
“Justin Trudeau and his elite friends, they are the fringe,” Leitch said.
On Thursday, a live microphone caught a one-on-one conversation between Trudeau and a woman in Iqaluit as the pair discussed proportional representation, an electoral system that some advocates say would be a more accurate reflection of the wide range of Canadian voters.
“Do you think that Kellie Leitch should have her own party?” Trudeau asked.
When the woman insisted that Leitch’s policies -- which include the controversial proposal to screen immigrants for so-called “Canadian values” -- are part of a different conversation, Trudeau argued they are not.
Because if you have a party that represents the fringe voices … or the periphery of our perspectives, and they hold 10, 15, 20 seats in the House, they end up holding the balance of power.”
Leitch did not directly respond to a question asking whether she’d consider helming her own political party if she doesn’t become Conservative party leader and insisted her sole focus is winning the vote in May.
“And I’m looking forward to having these discussions with Justin Trudeau, because I know the average Canadian out there is with me.
They are not the fringe. And newsflash for Justin Trudeau: they aren’t the fringe. He is.”
Leitch rebuffs Trudeau's shot by calling prime minister 'fringe' | CTV News