As much as you may NOT like what they stand for, to suggest that misguided, frightened individuals are the main reason for them being elected into power is a insult to the voters that found their platforms appealing.
There is still this arrogant denial regarding how/why a good percentage of the population voted these guys into power.
Harper's message was based on fear and fear mongering, whether about criminals, socialists, separatists, the "instability" of democratic politics (need a strong hand to guide, a steady hand, wouldn't want to rock the boat - all fear based slogans) or all the evil threats out there in the world like Russian planes that we have to be afraid of. The fact that many found it appealing is proof of my point. Their trauma made them scared, despite falling crime numbers, a need for more peace and less military spending, a need for more dialogue and less conflict, less punishment.
Ford's message was similar - broken city, negativity, cutting, be angry at the unions, poor people, etc. ....
You should look at the reality of the way the elections were run as fear and anger marathons for conservatives.
However, you can disagree and say that the Conservative PLATFORM had other things in it that appealed to people. I am not saying that there are no rational conservatives out there. Of course there were many who simply preferred the choice, mostly for economic reasons a la the GLobe and Mail.
But, according to most political scientists who study elections (my thesis advisor studied elections at UBC and drove this point home every day), political shifts don't usually happen based on policy - I wish they did. The emotions I discuss affected at least a number of people, enough to shift the tide.
Last, I would go out on a limb and suggest that, in the final moments, it was fear of the NDP in Toronto that secured Harper his majority - fear of the "socialists." you can disagree, but that was Harper's STRATEGY from day one, if not his PLATFORM, which you seem to like, but which, in politics, is secondary at best.