The Canadian Leaders' Debate

Immediate response to the Canadian leaders'debate: Everyone did well, but Harper won the beauty contest. He seemed the most relaxed and friendly. He gave the sense of talking straight.

Mulcair established himself as the chief rival to Harper. He seemed to have a lot of substance to say. He did seem nervous, though. This came across as either insincerity or perhaps repressed anger, either of which are troubling. He flubbed his final statement, leaving with a bad impression,

Trudeau seemed prepped and polished. But he seemed a little callow in interrupting early on. He may have realized this, and pulled back as a result. Unfortunately, this left him looking like he was less engaged in the debate than Mulcair, letting the latter look like the chief alternative to Harper, and so solidified a sense of himself as number three.