A natural Liberal

While some have criticized the Liberals' referendum strategy which involved dumping lots of money onto both sides of an issue, Belinda Stronach apparently decided to try the same thing:

Former Conservative leadership candidate Belinda Stronach donated $100,000 to help pay off the campaign debt of third-place finisher Tony Clement, a move that has raised questions among Tories over whether she was trying to buy Mr. Clement's future loyalty.

Of course, there's also this:

Sources said Mr. Harper's team also donated $10,000 to Mr. Clement in the aftermath of the campaign, which took place in early 2004.

I'm sure the Conservatives were hoping to develop a Liberal-style election machine, but this was an awfully quick step toward the worst parts of it.