Mr. Klein, whose government is flush with cash because the rest of us are getting screwed at the gas pumps, is promising the most ambitious public works program in decades. A Conservative government will build/renovate schools and hospitals, rebuild roads and he has even floated the idea of a high-speed train from Calgary to Edmonton. At the same time the Tories would balance the budget, look for savings in the health care system and perhaps even give Albertans a tax cut.

How could you not vote for that? That is, of course, the problem facing the NDP and the Liberals for whom Klein has left no issues of broad appeal. There is a new upstart right-wing party that may or may not have an impact on the election. The Alberta Alliance Party is campaigning slightly to the right of the Klein Conservatives and is counting on the support of those people who thinks the Premier has gone soft.

Still, short of a major gaffe, Mr. Klein just has to go through the motions to be re-elected.