The Pollcast: 3 months to go in the Conservative leadership race

The CBCPollcast, hosted by CBC poll analyst ric Grenier, explores the world of electoralpolitics,political polls and the trends they reveal.

Kevin O'Leary was not one of the 13 candidates participating in theConservative Party'sleadership debate in Edmonton Tuesday, due to what he called its "bad format."

Those who did participate, struggled to be noticed on the cluttered stage and with less than three months to go before the ballots are counted, candidates need to getnoticed.

• Conservative debates showcase candidates' strategies
• Podcasts: Subscribe to the CBCPollcast

O'Leary's decision to avoid the debate might have been the quintessential front runner's move, but O'Leary is far from being a runaway favourite for the leadership. Maxime Bernier is also widely seen to be in a strong position, while candidates such asAndrew Scheer, Lisa Raitt, Kellie Leitch, Erin O'Toole and Michael Chongare trying to secure second choice support that could keep them in the running.

Calls for the other candidates in the race to step aside are beginning to grow.

But will they be heeded?

To help lay out where things stand at this point in the race, Pollcast host ric Grenier is joined again by Conservative insiders Chad Rogers of Crestview Strategy and Tim Powers of Summa Strategies.

Listen to the full discussion above or subscribe to the CBCPollcast and listen to past episodes.

Past episodes with Chad Rogers and Tim Powers on the Conservative leadership race:

• Jan.2016: Your primer on the Conservative leadership race
• May 2016:The state of the Conservative leadership race
• July2016:Tony Clement in, JasonKenney out
• Sept.2016: The impact of MacKay's decision not to run
• Nov.2016: Conservative leadership begins to heat up
• Jan. 2017: O'Leary, French debate shake up race

Follow ric Grenierand Tim Powerson Twitter.