I watched the French Language Debate. If I lived in Quebec, I'd be voting for Duceppe. He totally roasted the rest of the candidates. Whether it was his savage dissection of Martin on Sponsorship Scandals, his tenacious badgering of Harper on social issues, or his critique of Layton's platform as it relates to "interfering" in areas of provincial domain, Duceppe was highly effective. In response, his opponents did very little to damage him.

If there was any doubt about an overwhelming victory by the Bloc in Quebec, they were erased last night. Duceppe's dominating performance, coupled with an irrelevant Jack Layton, uncomfortable looking Stephen Harper, and ineffective Paul Martin, has all but assured Bloc Quebecois Dominance on Election day, and also assures that Canada is headed towards a minority government.

I hope others on this board will watch the English debates tonight and report their thoughts (I will miss them due to commitments related to my son's Soccer team).

Theres no such thing as a true political debate when 50% of the available parties are not invited to the table.

I could care less how the debates go. I will still vote in an NDP government

I'm not against a party needing official party status to participate if the Greens or anyone want to participate all they have to do is convince enough people in 12 ridings their right. Or they could do the intelligent thing and put their votes behind the official parties in order to get some power to bring about their goals.

I'll be voting N.D.P..

I thought Layton did really well. and Unfortunately Harper didn't do as bad as I had hoped. Martin just made me feel sorry for him. And I kinda wanna punch Gilles in the teeth he really bugs me

Yeah, Martin was struggling, he was really taking some heat there, Harper did ok IMO. If this election could only wait another few months until my 18th, I'd be voting NDP.

the english debates were predictable, they were all asked about their positions on the major issues ie healthcare, relations with the U.S and from my perspective, I didn't discover anything new. There wasn't any sort of knockout punch delivered at all. If you didn't know anything about the parties before,then this was perfect to help you see their positions a bit better.

I loved watching Duceppe in this battle, I mean, it's clear, he just didn't care that much at all. He just was trying to cause some trouble for the other leaders, he really couldn't care that much. Just as Harper and Layton really weren't too worried about the French debate.

My main problem with the debates lies in the fact that not all the bases are covered. I mean, in this election campaign, I've only vaguely heard about some issues. Student issues, Rural devolpment, I mean, none of these issues are being discussed. Personally I would like to see more debates, given to all parties who hold a seat in the house of commons. More debates=more issues vital to all canadians are discussed. Now, I know the issues discussed last night are important, however, I just wish that more issues were throughly discussed.

Martin looked rattled, Layton just got on my nerves, Duceppe was entertaining, and Harper looked human. In the end, Harper wins, because he came across as more Joe Clark than Stockwell Day, which will help him. With the combined result of the French and English votes, I think we're looking at a Tory minority here.

For those who watched on Global, they had a group of Canadians with "trackers" on them, that gauged reaction to how they approved of what a debater was saying.

Oddly, Duceppe was in the Green (approval) more than any other leader. Layton started off in the Green zone, and progressed downward into the Red Zone of disapproval as the night dragged on. Martin tended to be in the Red zone all night, while Harper was in the Red during debates on social policy, but was green everywhere else.

The debates cemented who I'll be voting for. Based on what I saw last night, I'm voting Green.

At first I was going to argue against the Joe Clark comparison. But, as I think about it, the parallels to 1979 are compelling.

For those too young to remember, in 1979 Joe Clark led a PC party that was coming out of more than a decade of division and disarray following the Diefenbaker years. Running on a platform that was two-parts "throw the bums out" and one-part fiscal reform (though in that case, it was through tax increases, not tax cuts), against a complacent Liberal government, Clark won a minority.

The NDP, who held the balance of power, were not interested in supporting the PC minority. Attempting to follow through on the PC fiscal plan led to the defeat of their first budget, and the end of the shortest Parliament in Canadian history. The Liberals under Trudeau, were returned to power with another majority.

History does not always repeat itself exactly. But, the current situation looks familiar.

Giles. Hands down.

Harper and Layton seemed to want to shout Martin (and eachother) at any opportunity they got and acted a bit like jackasses. Martin was just plain nervous/shaky, and probably didn't come across strong. Giles, on the other hand, hardly ever cut off anyone, but managed to be aggressive when it counted.

I think we'll end up with a small Liberal minority. I think the Libs have enough CONCENTRATED votes to get a few more ridings than the Conservatives. NDP will do decently, Bloc will take Quebec by storm, and the Greens stand a chance of getting a seat or two, but that is doubtful.

I'll be interested to see how BC goes. I have a feeling that everyone BUT the Conservatives will make gains here. The Liberals stand a chance to pick up a few more seats, especially if the First Nations voters get out and follow the advice of most of their leaders. NDP seems strong, and poised to push out a fair number of Conservative incumbants. Green support is probably higher in BC than anywhere else, and they stand a serious chance of some Vancouver Island seats (or so I've heard).