I think that for a big whack of Conservatives the overriding concern is electability. And that, to some extent, requires the ability to stand out and show you've got the credentials and charisma to go against Trudeau. Given this pack of largely anonymous people the only one that stands out in that regard is O'Leary.
I think that, given time, people like Lemieux, Scheer and Bernier might be able to achieve the public recognition and respect needed, and maybe the long time-line of this race was intended to do that to get their faces and names out there more. If so, the idea failed and continues to fail due to the large number of candidates.