Newfoundlander

You only get second/third/fourth choice votes when a candidate drops off. For instance, Rick Peterson probably has a good chance of coming in last place. If he were to fall off first - and he may only have ~1% of the points - then his supporters second choice votes will be counted. If Andrew Saxton were to fall off next then his second place votes would be looked at. For those Saxton supporters who ranked Peterson as number their 2 then their third choice will be counted. So while it's great to be the second choice of many candidates, you may never see those votes if you fall off early. For instance, as it stands right not Bernier seems likely to finish in at least second place. Because of this who his supporters picked as their second choice will never be counted. Someone may also get 50% + 1 of the points needed when there are three or four candidates left. Some people seem to think that everyone's second choices are looked at if nobody gets 50% + 1 on the first ballot, but it's only the person who finishes last.

I don't think he sounds like anyone because his campaign has done so little I've hardly heard anything from him. I have absolutely no clue why he's running. The only thing I know is that he wants to increase immigration levels.

August's assertion that Alexander will be able to make it to the final round just seems quite odd to me, and I'll explain why. Despite several years as a prominent member of Harper's cabinet - and being mentioned as a possible successor 10 minutes after being elected as an MP - Alexander has attracted no prominent endorsements from Conservatives. As the media reported a few months ago it wasn't even clear who was running his campaign. Without a strong campaign team behind it won't be easy to even make an appeal to be second place choice. In order to get second place votes, one needs to attract enough first-place support to be in probably the top 6. Saxton, Obrhai, Peterson, and Lemieux will likely be the first to drop off. None are considered to have much support so who their supporters select as second, third, or fourth will likely have little influence on the race. Trost doesn't appear to have much support either but social conservatives might give him enough support to have a little more influence than those previously mentioned. Then there's Blaney whose Quebec support could boost his numbers a bit that his votes have some influence. Right now Alexander only seems to have about as much support as Trost and Blaney. So he'd need to finish ahead of all those previously mentioned and have enough support to get ahead of candidates like Chong, Raitt, and O'Toole, all Ontario candidates who are seen as being in that top-mid tier. I could go on but me explaining it further is just a waste of time August has mentioned the fact that he is fluently bilingual as a reason he will do well. However, anyone who doesn’t speak French won’t know the difference between Alexander’s French and Chong’s French or Scheer’s French. As I have previously said it might help him get high on the ballots of supporters of Bernier and Blaney. However, it looks like Bernier will make it to the final ballot so Alexander would never have a chance at getting any of his supporters. I would imagine if Quebec roots and bilingualism is a big concern for the Blaney supporters they’ll choose Bernier as their second choice, and therefore Alexander is unlikely to see much of his support. I can’t see a path for Alexander to make it into the top tier let alone to be in the top two. Maybe August can explain further how exactly Alexander gets there.

How and why? Whose supporters does he get? Who is voting for him as their second/third choice over say Scheer, Chong, O'Toole or Raitt?

Alexander has no chance at all. The fact that he speaks French fluently may mean he becomes the second or third choice for Quebeckers, but I doubt many outside Quebec care that his French is considered by some to be flawless. While many people outside of Quebec want the leader to be bilingual I doubt many people care how good the candidate's French is. Alexander's French might be better than Scheer's, Chong's or O'Toole's but Anglophones won't really care. As well, Bernier seems likely to make it to the final round so even if Alexander is the second or third choice of Bernier and Blaney supporters he'll probably never see those votes.

Not everyone who supports the Liberals are left of centre. There are those who are more right of centre and centrists who have voted Conservative in the past and could again. The Greens have been more left-wing on most issues under Elizabeth May but but there are Greens - like former leader Jim Harris - who are more conservative minded but are passionate about the environment. The Ontario Greens for instance have previously run on fairly fiscally conservative policies.

Oh, you're talking about after someone gives birth?

First off: LOL Second: How about non-Christians, is it okay for them to get abortions then?

So anyone who has consenting sex should have to deliver the baby? It doesn't matter if they took steps not to get pregnant and still did? Government should play a role in making sure people have safe sex and understand steps to take so they don't get pregnant by accident. As well, as making sure people have access to birth control and what not. They should also make sure that people understand that there are other options besides abortion. Nobody *wants* to get an abortion, nor do they want to see others get one. However, women should still have the right to decide if it's the best option for them.

It's a fetus, so I highly doubt it'd respond.

I don't agree with Trudeau's approach, but it's his party. It's his prerogative to decide what policies his wants his MPs to support.

There's nothing to pass into law. It's a motion for a parliamentary committee to discuss an issue.

Being "soft" makes someone a Liberal? CC scandals?

Why?

Clearly nothing because you don't know the answer.

But how is this conservative? How is that a conservative principle? The idea is pretty non-ideological and more so a populist proposal.

So what exactly does attacking the media have to do with Conservatism? And how is limiting immigration and screening for made up values conservative?

Odd that so many major newspapers endorsed the Conservatives over the years when they thought Harper was so evil.

I haven't heard one Conservative candidate talk about being anti-free trade. Has one of them?

How?

I'm well aware. If we're citing polls though, they've shown these two in particular are the most polarizing candidates. The only reason Leitch has become a competitor is because of her immigration position, prior to announcing it she had little to no traction in the race. While Conservatives may not oppose her idea it doesn't mean they care enough about it to vote for her, and why else would someone vote for her? Candidates like Obhrai, Saxton, Lemieux, Peterson, and Trost, appear to have little to no support so when they drop off their numbers will hardly impact the overall race. Alexander and Blaney may get enough support to have a little influence. It's the other seven - O'Leary, Bernier, Leitch, Chong, O'Toole, Scheer and Raitt - who will likely have the most support in the race that their second, third, fourth, etc. choices will influence the race. There's a good chance that people's second and third choice will have similar views as their first choice. Due to O'Leary's high profile and focus on economics he probably has a better shot at being ranked high on almost anyone's ballot. However, where does Leitch's second place support come from? Raitt and Chong have been pretty aggressive in their attacks against her so it'd be surprising if their supporters were ranking Leitch very high. Her and O'Toole are also been very different. Some of Scheer's supporters may like her and possibly some of Bernier's Quebec supporters. If O'Leary were to drop off it's difficult to say who his supporters might choose as their second choice. Leitch in particular would appear to have the least room for growth. While she's spoken about some different issues, she is predominantly seen as a one issue candidate.

I doubt Alexander will be high on many people's ballots. As well from people I've spoken to Chong could be high on the ballots of Bernier, Raitt and O'Toole supporters, and vice versa. Leitch and O'Leary probably won't have a great deal of support after their first choices.

Ok then.

I don't understand what you're trying to get at. A candidate would need to quit prior to the voting process for their endorsement of another candidate to have any impact.

At this point it doesn't appear that many will drop out prior to the ballot being finalized or convention.