Optimistically billing themselves "the common sense centre," Alberta's provincial Liberal Party launched its contest yesterday to find a permanent replacement for interim Leader David Swann, the party's sole MLA.

The slogan for the Alberta Liberal leadership race -- which will run from today until March 31 -- is definitely better than anything the Alberta Progressive Conservatives have come up for their effort to replace their interim Leader, Ric McIver, which alert readers will recall is also under way.

As an aside, it must be noted that the governing New Democratic Party does not have a leadership race under way at the moment, seeing as its leader, Premier Rachel Notley, cannot be accused of having botched the last Alberta provincial election on May 5, 2015.

The story is not likely to get the attention it deserves amid the uproar inevitably surrounding the shocking results of the U.S. presidential election, but the two women campaigning to lead Alberta's Progressive Conservative party both withdrew from the race yesterday. Both were associated with the more socially progressive wing of the former governing party.

Sandra Jansen, sitting MLA for Calgary-North West and a former minister in premier Alison Redford’s cabinet, said in a news release she was quitting because of harassment and intimidation. Social conservatives associated with the campaign of former Harper Government cabinet minister Jason Kenney are said to be the culprits.

Today marks the official opening of the Alberta Progressive Conservative Party leadership race, although it's probably not the most important date in the third effort by the former Natural Governing Party of Alberta to recover the mojo that went missing when premier Ed Stelmach threw up his hands and announced he was quitting back in 2011.

Alberta's Tories are praying there's enough truth to save their bacon in the old saw "Third time's a charm!"

Stelmach -- whom I suspect hadn't expected to win when he ran up the middle to victory in the 2006 race to replace Ralph Klein -- was a decent person, but didn't really have the constitution required for the rough-and-tumble that comes with being a premier, a game played with elbows up at the best of times.

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No one should be surprised that as its final decade approached, Alberta's Progressive Conservative government cut a secret and illegal deal with a small group of electricity marketing companies to let them leave the province's consumers holding the bag for billions of dollars in the event the dice ever failed to roll their way.