My take on the Alberta Party is that they went all in too soon. While I understand that the temptation was there to win a seat and it was a great opportunity, I feel like they needed a bit more time to build a stronger base across the province. I think we can all agree that having at least one seat can be a big boon for a party (See Wildrose in 2008 and The Green Party in 2011), but it's a major risk and if it doesn't work you end up stuck in the backwaters with nothing to show.
While the average voter won't care, the decision to rest their hat on Carter I think backfired a bit. I know that the average person doesn't really care who Carter is, but his tactics are great for the short term, but horrible in the long term. Things like painting Dirks, Prentice and the PC Party as homophobic without clear Huntsberger like evidence left a bit of a stain on the party. Playing up a mistake by a volunteer on voter information as a conspiracy to sway votes was another childish call.
While the Alberta Party can spin a second place finish into a win, it's going to be hard to deal with 87 other ridings where nobody really knows who they are.
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