Liberal leader Rana Bokhari had the most to gain from Tuesday’s televised leaders’ debate. But she had the most to lose, too. And she lost. Big time.

Bokhari, whose campaign started to unravel two weeks ago after a series of election gaffes and the loss of six candidates, had an opportunity to turn things around in this debate. A solid performance beamed into Manitobans’ living rooms could have shown the rookie leader in a more positive and promising light compared to what people have seen from her so far.

But she fell flat, stumbling through answers, sounding disorganized in her thoughts and looking very much like someone who’s just not ready for the big leagues.

And that’s the way viewers saw it too.

According to a Mainstreet/Postmedia poll taken immediately after Tuesday’s debate, 44% of viewers said Tory leader Brian Pallister won the debate, followed by 24% for NDP leader Greg Selinger. Only 4% said Bokhari won, a disastrous result for a leader who desperately needed to make up ground to have a chance of winning not only her own riding, but a handful of seats for her party, too.

Pallister held his own in the debate, providing concise, well-rehearsed answers to obvious questions, like where he would find savings in government. He played it safe, as frontrunners do. And he avoided any major gaffes. He dodged questions, too, as most politicians do. But he looked statesmanlike, the goal of any opposition politician trying to look like a government in waiting.

Selinger was ordinary, repeating the same lines he’s been using throughout the campaign. But it’s a broken-record approach that’s not working for him. The unfounded attacks, the fearmongering and in some cases the outright lies — like his claim Tuesday that Manitoba is a leader in job growth in Canada.

Manitoba has lost 3,400 jobs over the past 12 months, according to Statistics Canada data released last week.

According to the poll, 57% said they have an unfavourable view of Selinger. Only 24% said they have a favourable view of him.

Viewers were split on Pallister, with 39% saying they had a favourable view of him and 39% saying they had an unfavourable view.

Bokhari was even worse than Selinger, with only 16% saying they had a favourable view of her and 57% saying they had an unfavourable view, more evidence that she’s falling further out of favour with Manitoba voters.

Meanwhile, Green Party Leader James Beddome did well in this debate. He was articulate, forthright and presented his views with confidence.

Only 19% of viewers said they thought Beddome won the debate, but it was heads and shoulders above Bokhari’s showing.

For many people, it was probably one of the first times they’ve seen Beddome perform. And he was impressive, taking on both Pallister and Selinger with confidence.

Mostly, though, this was a very disappointing night for Bokhari. With less than a week left in the campaign, it’s tough to imagine what the Liberals could do to turn their fortunes around.

When asked what party they would vote for, only 5% in the Mainstreet poll said Liberal, a massive drop from the 20%-25% support they had been drawing during the campaign. The Tories got 47% of the vote while the NDP garnered 23%, similar numbers to what we’ve seen in recent weeks.

At this point, the Liberals would be lucky to hang on to the one River Heights seat they have and maybe add a second. Unless Bokhari can pull off some kind of miracle over the next week, the Liberal party’s chances of improving their lot in Manitoba’s political arena look extremely bleak.