Yes and no.  Your are right after 16 years in office any party no matter whom is going to face an uphill battle to win, nonetheless the BC Liberals did have a lot more money, Clark is supposedly a strong campaigner, and the economy is doing really well all things that should help but still weren't quite enough.  Certainly the fact the NDP did win a bigger landslide will leave a lot of questions too, but I suspect if not a coalition with the Greens this time, they will win next time.  Off course once they get in power that is the tough part and their ability to get re-elected after each stint is not very good as they've lost far more than they've won.