We gather a panel of female political watchers to assess last night's English-language federal leaders' debate. They weigh in on how the four men performed, the issues they honed in on and whether any of them were able to change the course of the campaign.

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PART ONE

Satire

It's Wednesday, April 13th.

Three federal party leaders held a debate last night.

And Stephen Harper debated a short invisible man just to your right.

This is The Current.

Leaders Debate Analysis - Panel

We started this segment with a few snippets of last night's English-language federal leaders' debate and The Current's take on what might have been going through the minds of Conservative Leader and Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe.

For some thoughts on what was actually said ... we were joined by three women who were keeping close tabs on the all-male debate. Kady O'Malley is a political correspondent with the CBC. Tabatha Southey writes a column for the Globe and Mail. And Diane Craig is the President of the image consulting company Corporate Class. She has done image consulting for several politicians, including Preston Manning. They were all in Toronto.

We ended this segment with a few more thoughts about what the leaders might have been thinking last night during the debate ... courtesy of The Content Factory.

Related Links:

• More than strong words needed to take leaders' debate By Randy Boswell - Postmedia News
• Ignatieff's six-minute debate challenge: Win the faceoff By John Ibbitson - Globe and Mail

Other segments from today's show:

• Environmental Issues: Elizabeth May & Party Panel
• Environmental Issues (cont'd) & Moses Znaimer