Dion did what he needed to do.

Whether anyone in le Canada anglais was listening remains to be seen, but he looked and sounded prime ministerial and did well on balance through the entire debate. The impression I received (on the west coast so take that with a grain of salt) is he very carefully used inclusive terms throughout. Us. We. Stressing he is a Quebecer, lets take what works in Quebec elsewhere. From a western perspective it sounded positive and non threatening. From an Albertan perspective who knows. But what I liked... and may not see in the English debate, is that he clearly is comfortable in his own skin when the discussion is on issues, not personality.

Harper as to be expected was on the defensive, or perhaps more accurately, was the recipient of most of the attacks. Held his own but didn’t gain anything. He looked uncomfortable and had a forced smile much of the time.

Layton I doubt gains from this; not because he didn't do a good job (he did) but because in the polls he's already up and I think he needed to truly exceed in order to support those numbers. Not sure he achieved that, although I liked his bit on gun control.

May was perhaps the most disadvantaged from a language perspective but on the environment she brought credibility and it helped to keep Harper on the defensive.

Duceppe probably gained additional support from Quebec from this performance unless there is a greater desire to elect government than more Bloc. If the former, its quite possible the Liberals will see a lift in la belle province. If they simply decide they are happy to block Harper, then perhaps Duceppe did what he needed to do. Like the French language debate in the 2004 election, I thought Duceppe was the overall "winner" in that he is totally in his element and sounds like he speaks with authority on every issue, even when perhaps his authority on some issues is suspect.

Clearly there is a lot of synergy among the opposition parties on many of the key issues. Whether that works for them or against them remains to be seen.

My 9 year old (who is virtually bilingual) made a comment “All Harper seems to want to talk about is taxes, taxes, taxes”.

I thought that was rather interesting and perceptive.