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Anyone who says they know what happens next in Alberta is kidding themselves. Even as their historic victory unfolded Tuesday night, top NDP officials seem hard-pressed to believe it, refusing to accept they’d won until the numbers were overwhelming. The best anyone can do is stand back and watch, and hope it works out well.

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So here’s some things to watch:

• The province that has been the driver of Canada’s economy is now in the hands of dozens of untested, inexperienced politicians who have never even had a seat in the legislature, much less run a government. As National Post’s Jen Gerson pointed out before the vote, the NDP candidate list included lots of students, a yoga instructor, a guy with the most spectacular beard in Alberta, and a huge fan of Hugo Chavez, the president-for-life who drove Venezuela’s oil-rich economy straight into the ground.

Historically, parties that come from nowhere to win big majorities don’t fare that well. Federally, John Diefenbaker and Brian Mulroney both struggled with neophyte caucuses that proved beyond their control. And the disaster that followed Bob Rae’s Ontario NDP victory was cited more than once during the campaign.

On the other hand, there is one outstanding example of a party coming from nowhere to seize power and hold it successfully: that would be the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party, which saw its 44-year run come crashing to an end Tuesday.