Students in Edmonton Say Ignatieff Won the English Language Debate

The Edmonton journal has declared Michael Ignatieff the winner of the English language debate.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff won the televised leaders’ debate after he stopped dumbing down his arguments and started acting like himself, say the three student debaters who participated in the Edmonton Journal’s live chat. Ignatieff’s impassioned plea for the role of the federal government in supporting equal access to health care across Canada was his strongest point, the three said.

“He had the most consistent message,” Kristen Pue said, adding he also backed up his statements with more examples than the other leaders. He looked relaxed, and when taking questions from Canadians he answered directly and remembered the questioner’s name, said Sheida Kayat, who judges debates for the University of Alberta Debate Society, the oldest club on campus.

Of Harper they said: he had difficulty engaging with the other leaders in the debate, Kayat said. “It looked really scripted. It looked like he was reading off something, anyway. He wasn’t really passionate about it and was avoiding some of the questions. He managed to keep his cool, but at the end he just looked tired.”

How the MSM gave him the debate is beyond me. As Parker at Contrarian says:

Ignatieff looked poised, serious, concerned, and easy to imagine as prime minister—nothing like the caricature painted of him in attack ads or pack news analysis. He was effective against Harper, especially in the first half. This is the first long look most Canadians have had of him, and many will be surprised and impressed. He will benefit from low expectations.

If the opposition members can expose his lies and deceit, he may be in trouble tonight.