The Conservative capitulation

My first take on the Conservative convention is up (short form: it was a disaster). More -- much more -- to follow. THE CRITICS RAVE Selected quotes from media reaction to the convention: Richard Gwyn (Toronto Star): "The Conservatives have made themselves electable by making themselves indistinguishable from the Liberals... Indeed, the strongest political differences in Canada — over same-sex marriages, for instance, or relations with the U.S. — now exist within the Liberal and Conservative parties rather than between them. Harper deserves an enormous amount of credit for this accomplishment." Chantal Hebert (Toronto Star): "Joe Clark did not get the last laugh on Brian Mulroney after all. Clark had predicted that the battle for the soul of the new Conservative party would result in a born-again Reform party. Instead, it allowed for the revival of many of his own core Red Tory values. Over the weekend, the delegates at the new Conservative party's first policy convention came together around a full range of future government policies. It is hard to find many that Clark could not have supported." Toronto Star (Toronto Star): "[Harper] can now fight the next election less hobbled by a strident right-wing agenda." Or, indeed, any agenda. Remind me: Why are Conservatives celebrating after this convention? MORE Jeffrey Simpson (Globe and Mail): "What a curious lot are Canada's born-again Conservatives. They are led by a policy wonk, but they offer few policies. They are supposed to oppose, but they do so half-heartedly. They insist they want to be different from the Liberals, but, if you listen to them carefully, it would appear they really don't want to be all that different."