Christine Elliott is by all accounts a very different person from her husband, and the provincial leadership candidate has done an admirable job of putting (political) distance between herself and him. But for all that, it's still the Jim Flaherty connection that gives her a shot - however slim - of upsetting Tim Hudak.
It remains to be made public, following last night's cut-off of membership sales, just how much of an organizational lead Hudak has. Count on it being large - probably too large to overcome. But if the race is at all competitive, Elliott has the advantage of being able to spend a great deal more money than the frontrunner, seeing as how she's apparently raising funds ten times faster than him.
It's no great secret why that's happening. There are a lot of people who want to give money to the federal finance minister, but can't give as much as they'd otherwise be willing because of the laws regulating political contributions. At least some of that money seems to be finding its way to Elliott, who faces no similar restrictions and - if CP has it right - collected an average of over $8,000 each from her biggest donors in April.
At the federal level, this may raise some questions about why people are that eager to give to the finance minister. But provincially, the only relevant question is what Elliott does with all that money - especially considering the Tories aren't even having a real leadership convention to show it off at.
Ads? A really sophisticated get-out-the-vote system? A crazy blowout party for every Conservative in the province?
Like I said, it probably won't be enough to win her the leadership. But it could keep things interesting for the next month or so.
