MONDAY night's televised leaders' debate failed to deliver a turning-point in the election campaign upon which the B.C. Liberals might capitalize. There is no doubt that Christy Clark looked and sounded better in the spotlight than NDP leader Adrian Dix, but while she scored some points, she did not come close to a knockout. Dix may have projected all the charisma of a sponge, but he absorbed the darts thrown at him without too much damage.
Much of the debate predictably centred on the economy - but it didn't provide any new information for voters: few believe the February Liberal budget is balanced while the NDP's version is short on detail and may not be fully costed.
Dix was better prepared than previously and did not flub the answer to why he had changed position on the Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal - people don't want to see a nine-fold increase in Vancouver oil tanker traffic, he said.
Clark too showed practice perfects in handling the she-doesn't-respect-the-rules-because-she-ran-a-red-light question. But Dix did even better in "owning" the mistake of his back-dated memo.
B.C. Conservative Party leader John Cummins and Green Party leader Jane Sterk enjoyed their moment in the sun, with Sterk arguably doing better than expected.
The biggest surprise of the evening was how easily the Liberals are skating away from the BC Rail debacle.
When the dust settled, Clark had the most to win and didn't, while Dix had the most to lose and didn't.
