Inside the 'moment of truth' for Kevin O'Leary's campaign

Three key members of Kevin O'Leary's leadership team sat down with him last Thursday on a patio nearhis campaign office and cracked open a beer. They had a pointed question to pose that would have been unthinkable when they risked all and tossed in their lot with the Conservative outsider.

"We began to see over the course of the months just somewhat of a change in him," said MikeCoates, the chairof O'Leary's campaign. Campaign manager ChrisRougierand strategistAndrewBoddingtonwere also at the meeting

"Last Thursday we said, 'Is your heart in this? Are you having second thoughts?'"

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Coatestold CBC News that he still believed O'Leary could win the leadership race and the next election. But he wasn't the candidate. O'Leary had doubts and those doubts were now crippling.

"It was a moment of truth," saidCoates.

Private meeting

ButCoatessaidhe wasn't truly sure his candidate was out of the race until O'Leary metone on onewithMaximeBernierlate Tuesday night in Toronto.

The conversation startedaround11 p.m.and went on fortwo or three hours

That conversation ended O'Leary's candidacy.

There were no "serious" discussions with any other campaign,Coatesinsisted. The only two options they seriously considered were dropping out without an endorsement or endorsingBernier, whom the campaign also saw as something of an outsider or a disrupter within the party.

Still,Coatessaid, he wishes O'Leary had hung in.

"Of course, we tried to convince him because we were in this to win. AllIcan say is he came to a different view, and he's the guy with his name on the ballot, and he's a pretty good little strategist himself. For him it's always been about beatingTrudeau,and this is the way he felt he could do that the best."

Stomach for the job?

But the pugnacious reality TV personality had other reasons for abandoning the race.

A senior member of O'Leary's team said the businessman took a hard look at what would be needed to rebuild the Conservative Party and decided he and his family didn't have the stomach for it.

That effort would have meant weekends away from his family and time away from the posh boardrooms and bustling television network studios in the United States. Rather than spending time in San Francisco and South Beach, he would be compelled to shake hands inSummerside,Sarniaand Saskatoon while meeting individual Conservatives in legion halls and church basements.

That dimmed hisardourfor the job.

Another source said there were concerns about the number of new members the Conservatives had signed up. The path to victory O'Leary's team had envisioned involved roughly 200,000 Conservative Party members. When the party announced that thanks to the leadership raceit now hadnearly260,000members, the O'Leary campaign wasn't certain where the additional support came from and how it would affect their chances.

What's next?

O'Leary's team isn't counting on all its supporters rallying behindBernier, but hopes that if a sizable chunk perhaps a third make the switch,Berniercould pull off a first ballot win, said a member of O'Leary's team.

As for O'Leary himself, he's publicly pledged to campaign withBernier.

Coatesbelieves the businessman's social media and fundraising savvy could also be used to help grow the Conservative Party.

But will O'Leary stick around?

"I hope so," saidCoates.