I think the radio tomorrow will be discussing it to death. I thought they all had a good showing.
Martin was definitely on the defensive as Duceppe and Layton aimed their guns at everyone else but most particularly Martin.
Harper aimed at Martin but he also managed to articulate his platform and came off with some very swift very clever rebuttals. He did very well, I think he came off the best of all 4 but that may just be my own perception. He did very well with the health care, gun control and tax break questions.
he definitely appeared calm, and in control, even amused thru the whole debate.
Martin managed to rebutt fairly well I thought, but he had to spend a lot more time defending his party than elaborating how and why his platform would be different. And he wasn't able to refocus away from the scandals for any length of time. He had the weakest starting position, having to defend his party both in regard to their performance, and past promises in previous elections, and also in regard to the scandals.
Part way thru he was sweating, and he stammered a bit as his emotions seemed to get a little more visible.
Layton was at ease during the debate focusing on attacking Martin and a bit of Harper and Duceppe, but it seemed to me he was happy to stand aside and let them fight it out while he tried to pick up votes for a third alternative. It was obvious that he isn't going to have to back up his campaign promises as he will not form any ruling party so he kept his energy to poking holes in the other 3 and staying out of the mud slinging when it got going.
Duceppe was fascinating as he mostly stayed on the offensive in attack position, but I got the strong impression that he is most often in agreement with Harper and vice versa while Layton favoured the Liberal positions, even as Layton was primarily attacking the scandal.
Duceppe was only uncomfortable when asked why if he supported standing by the Supreme Court, and not revisiting the gay marriage issue, he could come out and say after 3 refererendums that Quebec should continue to explore the idea of separation.
He adroitly maneuvered past the definition of Quebec as a nation which he demanded from Martin, and Martin gave him; but Martin turned tables and hinted that if so, then the First Nations have a say in whether Quebec left, and how much of Quebec would be allowed to leave if the other ethnic groups were allowed to choose for or against sovreignty. Good point and Duceppe managed to avoid it, but it was obvious that Duceppe was on the defensive there.
Duceppe brought up an old historical point, saying that the borders of Quebec at the time of Confederation should remain the same if they opt out, but you can't have it both ways. Either the First Nations have a stake at the table of negotiation or they don't and Duceppe had to concede that they had nation status too which weakens his position.
I don't think it will have changed anything, nor at this point did anything wildly new come up. The positions remain the same, the leaders were able to articulate them quickly enough that they didn't lose the electorate's attention span too badly. Thank heavens for time limits and not allowing interruptions.
I doubt it will do anything other than confirm what direction people were already voting to begin with.
In Quebec, the Conservatives and the NDP will simply be spoilers to deflect more votes away from the Liberals and towards the Bloc Quebecois. At least that is how it looked to me during the debate. The more that Harper and Layton focused on the Liberal troubles the better Duceppe liked it.
That is how I saw it.
