Swompdonkey

Prepare for impact in 3...2...

To protect his lead, all Harper needed to do in tonight's debate was to appear calm, statesmanlike, not freak out, keep hammering home his platform.

He achieved that.

Layton needed to slam both the Conservatives and the Liberals to position himself as the "third option".

That's exactly what he did.

Duceppe just needed to show up, and have fun poking at the other three.

No problem there.

To halt Tory momentum, Martin needed to hit one out of the park, and convince voters that Harper hates Canada, and was going to destroy Confederation and voluntarily surrender Canada to nefarious Republican interests.

Uh... didn't quite pull it off, did he?