Just add Nenshi, and it’s a whole different Alberta NDP race [Video]

Naheed Nenshi and his Alberta NDP leadership team didn’t intend to organize a rally on Tuesday.

They’d put out calls for a volunteer orientation, for a group largely composed of people who’d supported his mayoral campaigns — but knew little of NDP membership sales, and had just become party members themselves.

Five hundred people showed up, Nenshi said.

The buzz in the room reminded him of the final days of his first run for mayor, 14 years ago. A virtually unknown business professor and pundit had suddenly vaulted to the top of the pack in a crowded race, and support was growing atop support.

“That feeling at the very end of 2010, that people got so excited and it’s multiplied and multiplied exponentially,” he said in an interview Friday.

“That’s exactly how it felt in the room.”

The energy and vibes he felt at the end of his first successful election bid are the same ones he senses at the start of this campaign toward …