text: Agreed.  Bernier seems to me the clear frontrunner, as he is less polarizing than O'Leary (and thus will pick up at lot of #2 - 5 rankings from the voters), but I have a really difficult time seeing how his libertarian message and platform will appeal to the soft Liberals that we'll need to bring back into the fold in 2019.  Bernier's math not adding up is a problem, and he is proposing some pretty drastic changes to our federal tax structure that I foresee him having some difficulty selling.  Getting punted from cabinet 10 years ago is also a big negative (assuming that voters have that long of a memory).  
  
  Bernier will assuredly lock up the Conservative base in a general election, but I truly feel a Chong, O'Toole or Raitt is necessary to broaden the tent, appeal to swing voters, and have any sort of chance of forming a government.