Here's a piece I did on the Conservative convention. It's an overview of whether the Tories can expect a signficant bounce in the opinion polls following their policy makeover.

An excerpt from the CTV.ca story, although you might also want to check out What about the SoCons? as well.

The Conservative Party touted its new, moderate face when it wrapped up its policy convention on Sunday. But it's not clear if the party's facelift will translate into substantial gains in public opinion polls.

"One thing we do know is the Conservatives managed to navigate some turbulent waters on the weekend," pollster Nick Nannos, president of SES Research, told Mike Duffy on CTV Newsnet.

But Nannos says the weekend, in itself, won't be enough.

"They're going to have to get out there and do some hard work."

It revisits some of the dumb things said by Conservative candidates last time and reviews some of the policy decisions made by the convention, which might not be regarded as all that moderate.

For example, they are still opposed to allowing gays the civil marriage option, although they're okay with civil unions.

They want a three-strikes law on violent offenders, would abolish the gun registry, re-open missile defence negotiations with the U.S. and are anti-Kyoto.

Here is what Richard Gwyn wrote in Tuesday's Toronto Star:

Several commentators have made the point that many current Conservative policies, such as Kyoto and missile defence, will turn off Quebec voters.

True, but beside the point. Quebecers, who only vote federally either for one of their own or for the winning party, aren't going to vote Conservative in the next election anyway.

It's Ontario voters who are the key to a national Conservative victory. Ontario voters are now open to change. They will remain so, provided only that the new Conservatives are not seen to be anti-Quebec (hence the party's ringing endorsement of bilingualism).

This doesn't mean Harper is set to win the next time around. My guess is that his inability to connect with ordinary people may still rob him of the prize.

The Star's Chantal Hebert wrote the following on Monday:

One has to go back to the days of John Diefenbaker to find a Conservative convention that felt so alien (if not necessarily hostile) to francophone Quebecers.

But even Harper's Quebec critics went home thinking there may be a tomorrow for their party in the province, if not in the upcoming federal election, then possibly in the one after that.

The sense that Harper will not be the leader to take the Conservatives to power spreads beyond the Quebec ranks of the party. It is ultimately grounded in more realism than factionalism.

But only a leader like Harper, who hails from the Alliance side of the family, could have managed to liberate the new party of so many of the shackles that made it uncompetitive without rattling too many Reform chains.