OTTAWA - Picking the winners and losers of our federal leaders' debates can be difficult. Indeed, the party leaders themselves may perform rather differently in both the English and French debates. For this reason, pollsters and pundits are loath offer any concrete evaluations and analyses until both debates have taken place and the citizenry has had an opportunity to reflect.

It seemed clear during both debates that Conservative leader Stephen Harper was trying to avoid hysterics and maintain a professional tone. This stood out in stark contrast against the repetitious platitudes advanced by Gilles Duceppe and Michael Ignatieff.

Let's make no mistake - Harper has a lot to answer for, and his core of support is eager to see a commitment to drastically lower spending levels. It was rather clear, however, that Mr. Harper is as well informed on the issues as a leader can realistically hope to be. While Ignatieff continued to trumpet that the Conservatives seek to "shut down everything they cannot control," this claim began to lose its gravitas as Ignatieff failed to back up these claims.

Ignatieff's Liberals were in need of the biggest boost coming out of the debates - and it seems this has not materialized. The Conservatives are currently flirting with a majority government, and it was incumbent upon the Liberals to steal Mr. Harper's momentum.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was neither Ignatieff nor Harper who received a significant boost from the debates. The big winner, it appears, is Jack Layton's NDP. This may come as no surprise to some, as Jack Layton's presence and on-camera personality are much more polished than Mr. Ignatieff. Indeed, Mr. Layton can usually count on an upswell in support around the federal leaders' debates - especially when his Liberal counterpart has been running an unfocused campaign.

This trend was also compounded by the current political climate in Quebec. The Bloc have been taking a particularly adversarial position, and the Conservatives have given up trying to appease all of Quebec's demands. This leaves the NDP in a position to capitalize, as it is the NDP's socialist-tinged platform that is the most ideologically congruent with Quebec society at large.

The latest polling data backs up these claims. The Liberals and Conservatives have each held relatively steady in their support, yet the NDP have closed in on the Liberals to trail by only 10 points. Before the leaders' debates the NDP had trailed by closer to 18 points. Surely this is cause to worry for some campaign strategists.