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One woman tweeted: “Right there, That was the moment that I decided how to vote.” A new Twitter hashtag — #mathishard — instantly went ballistic.

Prentice seemed jolted by Notley’s quickness and skill. She was a tough target for the premier.

One woman tweeted: “Right there, That was the moment that I decided how to vote.”

Notley played him like a fiddle, often interrupting adroitly, without seeming angry, just pleasantly indignant. A few times he just gave up and let her go on. Indeed, there was a moment near the end when the premier looked like he wanted to pack up and leave.

Prentice himself was cool and able, as usual, except for a couple of shaken moments. He has a coherent program that’s well understood. But he faced the usual premier’s problem — he was constantly blasted from all over the stage.

Most of the criticisms reflected things Prentice has said himself about past PC regimes. Even Prentice loyalists will have trouble seeing this debate as more than a draw for the PCs.

The real puzzlement was why Prentice spent so much time directly confronting and questioning Notley, even after it became clear she was very tough to handle.

Partly it was placement on the stage — they stood right next to each other — but a move like that always has some strategy behind it. It may mean the PCs are worried about an NDP breakthrough beyond Edmonton, perhaps into Calgary ridings. After last night, they may have good reason.

Then there was new Wildrose Leader Brian Jean, the sharpest contrast to Notley imaginable. He was blunt and highly scripted, repeating the same point again and again — “Wildrose will not raise your taxes.” He called all the other parties “a coalition of tax-raisers.”