Once upon a time, not so long ago, Alberta’s New Democrats hoped Premier Jason Kenney would not stay long in provincial politics.

They longed for the day he’d use his election victory in Alberta to catapult himself back to his first love: federal politics.

But they dream of that no more.

Not because Kenney has made it clear he is not returning to the federal stage. But because the NDP now sees Kenney as a political liability to the United Conservative Party, not an unbeatable asset.