CALGARY — When times are good, nobody talks politics.

And in Alberta, where one of the longest energy booms on record keeps pumping along, getting people to debate who should become the province's first new premier in 14 years is harder than keeping staff or finding affordable housing.

"It could be considered a grim sign, but it also could be considered a time when Albertans aren't worried," says political satirist Rick Mercer.

"I don't think Conservatives are worried that they have any chance of ever losing power in the foreseeable future, and I don't think the average Albertan is worried that any of these people would make a bad premier."

Mercer, who stars in CBC TV's weekly Rick Mercer Report, could be one of the few worried about the coming change in leadership of Alberta's Progressive Conservative party -- if for no other reason than it will be someone other than Ralph Klein.

"Anyone who's a fan of politics is a fan of Ralph Klein," said Mercer. "Because he gives you good sound bites -- you never know what he's going to say and you can trust that he'll shoot from the hip.

"He's a legend at this point."

It's fair to say that none of the eight men vying to take control of the party -- which has governed Alberta for 35 years without interruption -- is the second coming of Klein.

The leadership race is halfway through a grinding eight week schedule and none of the candidates has come close to uttering any Klein-isms. Nobody's blamed the last Ice Age on "dinosaur farts" or pointed the finger at Central Canada's "eastern bums and creeps."

Most of the candidates -- Jim Dinning, Mark Norris, Dave Hancock, Ed Stelmach, Victor Doerksen and Lyle Oberg -- have served in the Klein cabinet but take a decidedly less colourful approach to public speaking. Also on the ballot are Ted Morton, a Calgary backbencher, and Gary McPherson, a businessman and community activist.

The closest the race has come to even a whiff of scandal was last week, when Oberg demanded answers after he discovered two pro-Dinning cabinet staffers making fun of his policy announcements.

With four weeks to go before party members vote, billboards and newspaper advertisements are starting to pop up, but they're few and far between. And it's a good bet that you won't hear many people chatting about the leadership race at the local coffee shop.

Part of the reason for the lack of excitement could be that the leadership race has actually been grinding on unofficially for more than two years, ever since Klein said he would not seek re-election.

Steve Patten, a political science professor at the University of Alberta, said another reason is that there are no huge ideological divides among many of the candidates.

"When you talk about the future and rethinking royalties and who's going to benefit from the oilsands and these things, the differences between most of the candidates are not that significant."

But Patten believes the biggest reason for the campaign's below-radar status is the unique nature of the game.

Because everyone who owns a $5 Tory party membership is eligible to vote, the most important thing the candidates can do is sell -- or hand out -- memberships. Seeking publicity is a distant second.

"They're not really looking for conflict and they're not necessarily looking for media attention," he said.

"You don't necessarily want to be out there creating news by challenging other candidates when you might need those other candidates on a second ballot."

The party has also been tight-lipped on how many memberships are out there and how many each side has sold to date, so it's difficult to judge which of the eight has a bona fide lead.

Preston Manning, creator of the federal Reform Party and still an influential political voice within Alberta, said none of the leadership candidates has so far managed to stir the hearts of voters.

"Nobody, in my judgment, has really identified what's the biggest, single underlying concern with Albertans and what's some fresh new approach to come to grips with it," he said.

"And when you don't do that, you're trying to fly a kite when the wind isn't blowing."

Manning said the sleeper issue is a growing concern for environmental conservation and how or if Alberta can marry that with the province's long-standing, pro-market approach to business and particularly the energy industry.

"If I had to bet on one idea that could energize a campaign or even a party that's been long in office, that would be the one I'd really investigate."