Leadership Debate

Last night was the leadership debate for the upcoming election. Nobody scored a knock-out, although the format (with all the microphones except one cut off) pretty much guaranteed a bland spectacle. Karen and I watched in via streaming media, without a television. It was kind of neat.

I though Stephen Harper did OK, but not spectacular. Paul Martin's high point was hitting out at Duceppe over Quebec sovereignty and how as a Quebecer, nobody is going to steal my country away with a trick question. Duceppe actually seemed quite reasonable, like a man who wanted to provide good government rather than a man who wanted to split Canada. The NDP leader, Jack Layton, did the best (IMHO). He was forceful and tied every comment back to the theme of why you should send NDP members to the House of Commons. Layton would have come off even better if he hadn't kept talking with his microphone off (which happened at least 4 times).