I heard this morning that Alberta Wildrose Alliance leader Danielle Smith was endorsing Stephen Harper so I wanted to confirm.

Confirmed the old-fashioned way… via SMS!

This is an interesting move for Smith. How does the political capital equation add up for this move?

Simple…

There aren’t many (if any) federal Liberals/NDPers in her camp and if there are, the trade-off is bigger. Stelmach is conflicted as Premier and his office won’t endorse a candidate because the Premier must work with the Feds no matter who is elected. But many Albertans are ardent federal Conservative supporters and view their current provincial government as a wishy-washy version of an ideal. Smith is suggesting to her fellow Albertans indirectly by her endorsement that the real conservative alternative is her as Premier and her party as government.