Eve Adams’ Oakville nomination race hurts the Conservative Party brand

Backroom political strategists often classify stories in three ways: There are the 'Ottawa bubble' stories — news stories that only resonate with political party staffers, bureaucrats, academics and the media based in our nation's capital.

There are the grassroots stories that only affect a particular political party's membership.

And then there are the stories that capture the attention of the general public across the country.

For a variety of reasons, the Oakville-Burlington nomination race — involving Eve Adams and Natalia Lishchyna — fits under all three categories and that's not good for the Conservative Party.

[ Related: Eve Adams's nomination vote postponed amid allegations ]

On Thursday evening, the Conservative Party postponed the nomination vote scheduled for Saturday amid allegations of bullying and fraud.

"The Conservative Party believes in upholding the integrity of our nomination process, and apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause‎," a statement by the Tories said.

The race has been mired in controversy for weeks.

Last month, Adams, the current MP from Mississauga-South Brampton, defended herself over allegations that she was bulldozing her way through the nomination process with illegal advertisements and strong-arm tactics.

And now, according to the Globe and Mail, Lishchyna's camp are accusing her of fraudulently paying for memberships and signing-up ineligible voters.

Adams' camp has since countered accusing Lishchyna's campaign of badgering and bullying their supporters.

Both camps deny any wrongdoing.

[ Related: Controversy sticking to Eve Adams, Dimitri Soudas despite their best efforts ]

While feuds within political parties are nothing new, this one touches Stephen Harper and his cabinet.

This saga involves Dimitri Soudas — Eve Adams' fiancee — who appears to be running her campaign.

Soudas, you'll recall,was hand chosen by the prime minister to lead the Conservative Party in the next election but was forced to resign after it was alleged that he was assisting his love interest.

This story involves the prime minister's parliamentary secretary to Health. It's clear that Harper saw Adams as a rising star within party ranks.

It also comes amid the continuing debates about the efficacy of the Fair Elections Act: social media was full of facetious commentary on Friday asking 'if the Tories can't facilitate a simple nomination, can you trust them overhaul the elections act?'

But most importantly, the nomination nastiness hurts the Tories' chance of winning that seat.

The latest Forum poll had the Liberals ahead of the Conservatives, in Burlington-Oakville, 45 per cent to 42 per cent.

There are already rumblings that, if Adams wins, Lishchyna's supporters will work against the Tories in a general election.

If the 2015 election is going to be as close as many are predicting then every percentage in every riding will be crucial.

Any way you cut it, this has been a bad news story for the Conservatives.

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