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In these very pages just last week, an astute scribe observed that the Alberta NDP were banking on social issues to save their bacon in the 2019 election.

A question he did not address, though: What if the NDP botch even this strategy?

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That worked against the Wildrose in 2012, and it’s also probably the case that the original Bill 10 fiasco was something the Prentice PCs never really recovered from.

Moreover, as sure-footed as Jason Kenney is on many issues, the UCP leadership candidate often appears uncomfortable on social issues. That might speak to the awkward balance in trying to appear reasonable to mainstream Albertans while not alienating social conservatives who might be of use in securing future political victories.

The day after the aforementioned analysis appeared in these pages, the Alberta NDP took to Twitter to highlight another Herald article about how Kenney’s views on Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) had “angered critics.”