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The smart money figures this time next week the ballot battle will be on.

In a week, Rachel Notley and Jason Kenney will have already fired their first rounds of political ammo. The deep thinkers will have offered up their first not-so-deep thoughts for easy digestion.

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Time moves quickly.

For a lot of Albertans, it’s like the mood your scribbler found while sitting ringside at Vegas covering title fights and seeing the likes of Mike Tyson try to tear people apart.

There is a moment in some fights when the champ is still standing, still throwing punches but the final outcome becomes ever more inevitable. You feel an anticipation rise in the crowd, a feeling they are seeing something special.

They are seeing the champ go down.

Every day people who are not political insiders or party loyalists tell me the Notley NDP is done. They do not quote polls. They do not indulge in analysis.

They say it in a matter-of-fact way. It’s what they feel. It’s what they’ve heard. They do not elaborate much.