How Belinda Saved the Conservatives

According to Don Martin's new Belinda bio, Stronach may be the biggest reason for the Conservative victory. Conservative backroom strategists were delighted with her floor-crossing, as it gave them time to prepare for an election, which they were not ready for in May of last year. Add to that the fact that her entry into the Tory leadership race generated much-needed publicity, her bankrolling of Peter MacKay's successful 2003 leadership bid, and her orchestrating the meetings between Harper and MacKay in the summer and fall of 2003, Belinda is pretty much the "Liberal godmother" of the current Conservative government.

Yeah, hindsight and all that...