By Kirk West of Politics with Kirk West

I’m really looking forward to attending the convention. Tonight, the convention kicks off with a tribute reception for John Tory.

I was pretty harsh towards him after the last election and had even blogged about John Tory being called into Donald Trump’s boardroom.

However, I also remember that Tory did other things for the party, such as bringing it out of a massive $4.5M hole, so I expect we’ll all be getting a reminder of what a force he has been in the party over and above his public pursuits. I am looking forward to learning about it.

When the leadership race started I had hoped the race would focus on the bigger philosophical issues (red tory vs. blue tory) and I am glad it turned out that way.

When I first watched Hillier’s and Hudak’s launch events, I knew right away (pun intended) that I would be watching it carefully.

And a Hat Tip to all the bloggers and the campaign social media chairs. Well done. I’m sure you’re all suffering from sleep depravation and caffeine overdose. At least starting tomorrow you can substitute caffeine for BEvERages. I look forward to meeting as many of you as I can tomorrow and Saturday.

By Russ Campbell of Russ Campbell’s Blog

We are hours from closing the polls and days from knowing who will lead our party in the Legislature and into the 2011 election. As I see it, the stakes could not be higher for the PC Party of Ontario.

I am encouraged by the quality of the four leadership candidates and by the high level of interest and enthusiasm they generated throughout the race. Their campaigns were short but intense; their debate thought-provoking.

Shrewd and creative use of “new media” have been hallmarks of this campaign. Twitter and Facebook as well as more traditional Web pages were utilized extensively. No longer did party members have to depend on the mainstream media to provide knowledge about the candidates. Access to the candidates was open to all with an e-mail account or a web browser. Internet-savvy members could converse directly with fellow supporters and debate the issues with adversaries.

This bodes well for when next we take on Mr. McGuinty. Here’s to victory in 2011!