The Debates

After having watched the debates and heard the feedback, I would probably say Harper came out on top, but Layton had a strong showing too.  Nevertheless, I cannot see this as a game changer and suspect any change in the polls will come due to other issues, not this one.

Harper: Was calm throughout the debate and looked prime-ministerial.  Despite having lots of opposition jabs against him, he for the large part came out unscathed which is really what he had to do.  I don't think he said or did anything to increase his support, but his performance should at least help firm up the support he already has.

Ignatieff: Had a rough start and came off as somewhat aggressive as well as repeating the same lines over and over again which as annoying as it is can be effective in drilling a certain point in.  He did however, improve as the debate went on and since people tend to remember more what happens towards the end rather than beginning, this should probably help.  He did what he needed to, in order to help ensure those Liberals who sat out last election show up, but not much to win support from those who are not already Liberals, thus will his performance may make a Harper majority somewhat less likely, it also will make it a lot more difficult for the Liberals to win.  In fact I would say the odds of him beating Harper in terms of seats are fairly low at the moment, but we shall await the polls over the next few days before confirming him out.

Layton: His usual performance and had a number of good one liners, especially on Ignatieff's poor attendance record for votes.  His main goal was to still relevant and prevent being squeezed out by the two main parties which I think he largely accomplished.  I doubt this will be enough to catapault him into second place or get above 20% in the polls, but should at least help at the moment from being squeezed out, although on election day if either the Liberals and Tories are close to tied or Harper is on the cusp of a majority he will probably get squeezed out.

Duceppe: An alright performance.  He has been in more debates than any of the other leaders although with English being his second language that does put him at somewhat of a disadvantage.  This was really a warm up for him as tomorrow night as what really matters.

Since I have other commitments I will not able to see the French debates, but I do plan to watch them online before commenting on those.  As promised, I will update my predictions for English Canada on Saturday and for Quebec on Sunday.