Politics·PODCAST

The Pollcast: 3 months to go in the Conservative leadership race

Was Kevin O'Leary's decision to skip the Conservative leadership debate on Tuesday shrewd or misguided? Host Éric Grenier is joined by Conservative insiders Tim Powers and Chad Rogers to discuss where the race stands now.

Host Éric Grenier is joined by Conservative insiders Tim Powers and Chad Rogers

With the exception of Kevin O'Leary, all the Conservative leadership candidates participated in Edmonton's debate on Tuesday. (The Canadian Press / Codie McLachlan)

The CBC Pollcast, hosted by CBC poll analyst Éric Grenier, explores the world of electoral politics, political polls and the trends they reveal.


Kevin O'Leary was not one of the 13 candidates participating in the Conservative Party's leadership debate in Edmonton Tuesday, due to what he called its "bad format."

Those who did participate, struggled to be noticed on the cluttered stage — and with less than three months to go before the ballots are counted, candidates need to get noticed.

O'Leary's decision to avoid the debate might have been the quintessential front runner's move, but O'Leary is far from being a runaway favourite for the leadership. Maxime Bernier is also widely seen to be in a strong position, while candidates such as Andrew Scheer, Lisa Raitt, Kellie Leitch, Erin O'Toole and Michael Chong are trying to secure second choice support that could keep them in the running.

Calls for the other candidates in the race to step aside are beginning to grow.

But will they be heeded?

To help lay out where things stand at this point in the race, Pollcast host Éric Grenier is joined again by Conservative insiders Chad Rogers of Crestview Strategy and Tim Powers of Summa Strategies.

Listen to the full discussion above — or subscribe to the CBC Pollcast and listen to past episodes.

Past episodes with Chad Rogers and Tim Powers on the Conservative leadership race:

Follow Éric Grenier and Tim Powers on Twitter.