[Bob Plamondon]'s central argument is that the Conservative Party of Canada, led by [Stephen Harper], is virtually indistinguishable from the Progressive Conservative party of Brian Mulroney in the 1980s. Thus, the conservative movement, as the book's title suggests, came "full circle."

"A party with extreme views," he writes, "is sure to fail." But who defines what is extreme? Plamondon seems to accept uncritically the media notion that social conservatism is "extreme," while left-liberalism is presumably "moderate."

Both [Paul Wells]' and Plamondon's books should contribute to enhancing Canadians' understanding of who their prime minister is. And that will undermine the Liberal campaign strategy of portraying Harper as "extreme," "scary," and "dangerous."