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there is a market, so to speak, for such ideas,” Massicotte said.

All of that said, the general consensus among the dozen or so strategists, pollsters and party insiders interviewed for this story, was that while Leitch may find an initial, vocal audience for her anti-Canadian values and anti-elite message, her potential for long-term growth is probably limited. “I don’t see what the second ballot strategy is here, because it’s such a polarizing issue,” said Lietaer.

Indeed, several strategists suggested Leitch’s best hope is to win on the first ballot, an exceedingly difficult task in a race with 14 candidates, a preferential ballot and an arcane system of dividing points between all of Canada’s 338 ridings. For Leitch, that job will be made even harder by the fact that, according to multiple Conservative sources, her campaign strategy has offended wide swaths of the party.

“Among the rank and file of the party, and frankly anybody I talk to in the party, anybody I know in the party, everybody is really, really right pissed off at her for doing this,” said Yaroslav Baran, who ran communications for Stephen Harper’s 2004 Conservative leadership campaign. Officially neutral at the time of his remarks, Baran announced his support for Michael Chong, one of Leitch’s rivals, this past week.

Though she has been campaigning effectively since the end of the last federal election, almost 16 months ago, Leitch has attracted only three endorsements from her fellow MPs, including one from longtime friend Peter Van Loan, and another from David Yurdiga, who represents her hometown of Fort McMurray.

Another longtime senior Ontario Conservative suggested that, as of now, Leitch is “nobody’s second choice.” “You can’t win this thing by burning down the house with everybody else in it, and that’s what she’s trying to do,” he said.

Of course, there are two very different issues here: One is whether there is a large enough audience in Canada for the antielite, pro-nationalist message.