Not a great debate for anyone.
Layton held the early lead and I actually found myself agreeing with him on policy once or twice, but then he switched gears after his 1on1 with Ignatief and reverted to the core values NDPer making the hard sell.
Duceppe faired pretty well, considering his target audience. He lead Layton around by his nose for a little while, but he wasn't so hot on the multicultural issue. But I doubt that he cares.
Ignatieff had a strong first half, but during his 1on1 with Harper he seemed to forget that he is also running for PM. Attacks are fine, but he didn't deliver an alternative to the Harper government. Instead of selling himself as the future leader of Canada he was the only candidate who took a blow to the chin (via Layton).
Harper weathered the storm, using the economy as a shield. He didn't really strike any blows, and his response to the coalition stuff was murky at best, but as the incumbent he did pretty well for himself.
I don't think there will be a whole lot of change from the last election we had. Minority Conservative government with a Liberal opposition. I don't think that enough Canadians trust Harper to give him a majority, and if the Liberals want to lead this country they need to start acting like leaders.
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