Debate wrap up

A post debate poll finds Harper squeaks out debate win, mostly because he was expected to win and then did.  Someone last night (the Ipsos guy I think) said these debates are always about beating expectations.  Oh, and Harper wins easily on the Toronto Star web poll.  Now that is a clear sign...

 

The TorStar also finally runs their bombshell poll (overshadowing what I thought would be the big headline): Tories headed for a majority.

 

But the bigger news in my mind is that the media thinks Martin bombed.  They think his "amend the constitution" routine smacks of desparation, which it does.  The CBC panel (Coyne, Hebert) thought so, and the CTV panel, wow - Bob Fife was pretty blunt.  But here's a better summary:

 

You don't amend the constitution of Canada because you're nine points back. A prime minister who valued the parchment of the constitution above his own hide would understand that. -- Paul Wells

 

On his blog, Andrew Coyne says it's basically over now: the polls are huge: Ipsos: 43-31. Ekos: 43-29.  And that's before the debate, which he think Martin lost.

 

Martin was simply ghastly. I've never seen him worse. Blustery, shouting, waving, wildly off-topic. Most important, in the entire night, he never gave me a single reason to vote for him.

 

A huge night, and two weeks to go.