Leader's Debates
After watching both the French and English debates with a fairly open point of view, despite my party affiliations, I'd say that Gilles Duceppe should be awarded the "most interesting to listen to" award, as he doggedly tried to hold Paul Martin's feet to the fire.
Martin's handlers clearly gave him bad advice, or perhaps Martin didn't take any. His steadfast determination to talk over every other leader, gloss over his own party's failings, and avoid being direct on issues of scandal, integrity, or his own voting record, will not resonate with most people watching regardless of their political leanings.
You'd have to be a pretty committed Martinite Liberal to believe that Paul Martin walked away a winner out of those debates. What's worse for him and his party is that he gained no ground in the eyes of all, and lost some in the eyes of most.
I thought Harper held his ground credibly, for most of the debates but in particular in the last half of the english debate. I must admit to being amazed that criticisms over his past stance on Iraq did not seem to stick. Layton looked like a marionette - I kept looking for his strings attached to his hands. And I wished the Green Party leader, Jim Harris, had been invited. Perhaps they'll get enough votes to put a member in the house and it will happen next time.
