Round Five: The future.

Rajoy: Biggest challenge to Spain is globalization. Housing biggest individual challenge to Spaniards, because house prices have risen so much under Zap. Socialists have done nothing useful, their Ministry of Housing is a joke. Zap says he has built more subsidized housing, but the real challenge is education and research. He shouldn't have mentioned that. He keeps talking up government spending a lot, bragging about subsidies.

Rajoy comes back pounding on inflation and the increase in housing prices. He's turned the debate to what he wants to talk about. Now he's slamming Zap on the lousy state of education, kids who should fail passing and lack of discipline and bad test scores. Zap's gone back to the number of scholarships he's funded. Now he's brought up climate change. Seems emissions went up under the PP. He wants to subsidize alternative energy.

Rajoy's gone back to housing prices. He said the PP ratified the Kyoto protocol and that Zap can't keep emissions down, either. Now he's blaming Zap for forest fires. Zap's come back with more climate change and he's trying to talk up his education policy again, which I wouldn't do. He bashed Rajoy for bashing the PSOE's pet performers. Rajoy's gone after Zap for neglecting the victims of terrorism, and he's gone after him for insulting PP voters. Zap's comeback: You insulted Serrat first, and Javier Bardem is a lefty.

Round Five to Rajoy on points.

Closing statements: Rajoy's is memorized. He's sounding a little Obamaish, "hope, all together, etc." He's for families and employment, as well as freedom and pride in being Spanish. "We can do it if you want us to walk together." Zap's is too. He's mentioned Iraq again, more pensions, higher minimum wage, and he promises equality between men and women and full employment. Peace yes, illegal wars no. Oh, God, he closed out with "Good night and good luck": loses points for that.

Closing statement to Zap, just barely.

Overall evaluation: Rajoy gets the win, but it wasn't anywhere near a knockout, which is what he needed.