Talk about a populist odd couple in the world of what-if, a duo determined to ditch the Tory dirty laundry.

Now, let’s be clear.

Wildrose leader Brian Jean says no way and no how and nowhere will his party support new taxes or tax hikes or big spending schemes.

Period. Full stop. Get the picture.

But now let’s just say no party scores a majority in the legislature May 5.

Now let’s just say there was no majority for any party but Wildrose holds the most seats in the legislature after the election.

And let’s just say Rachel Notley’s NDP are a real force in the legislature, a pretty safe bet.

“We would certainly work with the NDP in relation to a couple of things,” says Jean.

The Wildrose boss wants a ban on corporate and union donations to political parties because such cheque-writing, in Jean’s words, “certainly skews decision making.”

Of course, no party has more big cheque contributors than the Progressive Conservatives since the big boys know where their bread has been buttered the last 44 years.

But Jean also wants to “clean up government in general” and on these issues he would seek NDP “input and support.”

“As the Wildrose cleans up the government we would certainly look to them for their opinion and advice on how we could best do that and we would work with them to get the votes necessary to push it through.”

Jean says the PCs favour standing pat “so they can continue to submit those bills and get paid for them by taxpayers.”

But if the PCs lose, and who can imagine such a reality after so long where the public has cried wolf, there will be no shortage of Toryland skeletons to unearth in what has been called “the culture of corruption.”

It would be to the benefit of the Wildrose and NDP to pull back the curtain on any misdeeds in provincial government operations.

Such a move could damage beyond repair the PC brand.

We wouldn’t have to dig up the dirt. It would be handed to us.

Jean also has something to say about last week’s debate and Premier Prentice’s going after the numbers on the Wildrose no-tax-hike, no-new-debt plan.

Jean talks about the “body language” at the slugfest and how Prentice just wanted to debate NDP leader Rachel Notley.

“He asked me a question. He asked me a question again,” says the Wildrose numero uno, of Prentice.

“He asked me a question a third time. And every time he asked me a question he turned to Rachel Notley and immediately, before I had a chance to respond, asked her a different question and he turned his back to me.

“That clearly indicates he doesn’t want to give me the opportunity to answer the question because he knows the answer.

“That’s why he won’t engage. He knows our plan is clear.”

Jean then tries to peek into the PC psyche.

“I think they’re desperate. They’re going to stoop to any level, they’re going to say anything they possibly can to retain power.”

The premier is up in Grande Prairie Monday stumping for two PC members of the legislature, one of them a cabinet minister.

He takes time to back Jonathan Denis as a member of his PC team running for re-election in Calgary.

Denis had to resign as Alberta’s top cop and justice minister last weekend after it was revealed he and his estranged wife are in court proceedings on a personal matter.

“I have confidence in him as a person,” says Prentice.

Meanwhile, the PC slamming of the NDP continues.

The Prentice PCs slam the cost of NDP campaign promises as they did earlier in the campaign with Wildrose.

Prentice himself also goes after the NDP, trying to woo those Wildrose voters to come back to the PCs.

“You know, it’s the NDP in British Columbia that is fighting the Kinder Morgan project.

“It is the NDP in Manitoba that’s opposed to the Energy East project,” says Prentice.

“At some time we have to ask the NDP: What is their policy? What are they proposing?”

The Alberta NDP say they are interested in the expansion of Kinder Morgan’s line and the proposed Energy East pipeline to Atlantic Canada.

The NDP say the PCs are desperate.

Voices within the PC braintrust say the vast majority of their candidates in Calgary and area are not desperate at all.

Most are feeling good.

“We’re not sweating,” says one set of vocal cords, sounding confident and dismissing all the polls going the other way.