Harper Faces Tall Order Reaching All Factions

But he must also convince the many Canadians who are watching from the outside that they have a vested interest in putting him in the Prime Minister's Office. It is an almost impossibly tall order. In contrast with Paul Martin two weeks ago, Harper cannot even take comfort from the notion that he is largely preaching to the converted tonight. The Conservatives gathered in Montreal are more focused on their divisions and less convinced that he is the man for the job of leading the party out of them than when he took on the leadership a year ago. Harper's audience tonight will be made up of a strong group of social conservatives, determined to put their stamp on the new party. It will boast scores of orthodox fiscal conservatives on the lookout for any sign of creeping Liberal heresy. It will also include a significant number of former progressive Conservatives for whom the advent of a born-again Reform party is a worst-case scenario. In the battle for the soul of the new party, Harper has become a target for all sides, more hostage to the warring factions within his movement than general to a surging army. In the lead-up to an election last year, it was easy enough for Harper to focus his troops on the Liberals and to blame the shortcomings of his campaign on the little time that had elapsed between the founding convention and the federal vote. But the advent of a Liberal minority government has blunted the Conservative edge instead of sharpening it. The developments of the past few months — featuring, as they have, a half-hearted crusade against same-sex marriage and a weak-kneed approach to the Liberal budget — have blurred the Conservative image. As a result, many Canadians still don't have a solid fix on where Harper wants to take his party and the country, and a growing number of them — particularly but not exclusively in Quebec — are ceasing to care...... www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1111099813903&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154