Feedback from the Guelph Lourdes debate

It usually takes a while to get reliable feedback on "who won" in a debate. Most of the time you hear the pundits and the partisans give their two cents in the post-debate analysis, but what really counts is the "on the ground" feedback received from the general public in the days and weeks following any debate.

It's been a few weeks since the All Candidates debate at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic High School in Guelph, and there's been time to really determine who "won".

Many of the students who attended the debate have let their parents know who won... and the students of Guelph have been saying that it was Conservative candidate Gloria Kovach.

The students weren't fooled by the barrage of attacks launched against Gloria. They weren't fooled by the negative "Fear and Smear" tactics of the Liberal and Animal Alliance candidates. They saw these attacks, and saw how well Kovach stood her ground, answering the questions one after the other. The students saw her keep her cool, while the Liberal and Animal Alliance candidates angrily threw their false accusations at her. They also saw her respond with detailed and throughough answers to the thoughtful questions from each of the other candidates, which impressed the student population. She also got the biggest cheer of the debate on one of her many answers.

And afterwards, they went home and told their parents. And those parents have been telling us that at the doors.

And many of those parents are now going to be voting for Gloria.