John Armstong: Election debate

Stalemate, pretty much. No clear winner. Devoid of any critical, vote-shifting moments.

Nevertheless, Don Brash did vastly better than in previous debates and showed he can now hold his ground in these confrontational set-pieces. Another solid, assured performance from the Prime Minister. But viewers have come to expect nothing less. Given the polls, the pressure was more on Helen Clark last night to pull a rabbit out of the hat.

There were no rabbits. Instead, she wore a relentless smile which was somewhat off-putting, especially when it did not square with what was coming out of her mouth.

Dr Brash still succumbed to bouts of arm-waving and a pained expression - a giveaway that he is feeling the pressure. That was particularly so when asked to justify National's ambiguous stance on changing the law banning nuclear-propelled warships. He struggled again with who National thinks fits the definition of "mainstream" New Zealand, with the Prime Minister cleverly devaluing his explanation by saying she was excluded under his definition.

But he landed a couple of jabs on her, notably questioning why Labour had suddenly adopted National's policy of a deadline on the lodging of historical Treaty claims. All in all, a fairly equal tussle. But, crucially for National, one that did Dr Brash no harm and maybe some good.