Harper wins Reform Alliance Conservative leadership

In a dark day for Canadian democracy, Stephen Harper won the race for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. The victory was not overwhelming, and we could only imagine what would have happened had there been a few more credible candidates in the running. By getting 55% of the vote on the first ballot, Harper ensured that there could be no backroom shenanigans.

Belinda Stronach had to win. She was the ideal candidate for this leadership position. A new party had been created out of the ashes of two old parties. In our political system, the party leader wields a lot of power and as such the leader is often taken as the sole representative of the entire party that s/he represents.

If a conservative MP had taken control of the party (eg. Joe Clark) then the new party would have been seen as the same old Conservative party, and might have lost much of the Western vote. If a reform MP had taken control of the party (as happened here), then the new party would simply be seen as the same 'ol Reform party, and it would never get the crucial Ontario votes.

Stronach was perfect, she was a nobody who identified with neither party. While it is true that she had no business being in politics, that was not really relevent at this point. The Conservative party did not have to win the next election, they just had to establish themselves as a new party separate from both Reform and Conservative.

Now, not only will the Liberals win, but they'll do it in style, scandals or no scandal. Sadly, Ontario will never vote for the Reform party, and with about 100 seats in Ontario, thats a serious problem for any party seeking control of the Parliment.