One-of-my-oh-so-rare-political-posts
Apr. 12th, 2011 09:42 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
newnumber6So, I did find myself watching most of the debates tonight (for those of you who aren't in the Great White North, we're in an election here and the party leaders debate)...
Not going to talk too much on the policies themselves, though, just on who I think did the best job in the debate itself.
Sadly, I think the best performer was Harper. Damnit. Stayed on message like a robot and, more than most of the others, actually talked about specific plans and so came out looking more prepared.
Second was Jack Layton. He didn't land any knockout punches but at least he came off as reasonable most of the time.
Ignatieff didn't do what he really needed to in order to connect to voters, I think. Sometimes he'd make the same point again and again.
Worst was Duceppe, but then, it's not his native language, maybe he'll be gangbusters in the French debates tomorrow night (but I'll be skipping those). However, even aside from the difficulties in making his point clear, he didn't come off too well.
Now, I'm anti-Harper and no debate performance is likely to change my mind, so I was hoping the other parties would knock him off his stride a little, but sadly I don't think they did it. There were times that I thought of ways to attack his talking points directly that nobody seemed willing to do, and when he made a point about some expert saying his plan was all aces, the other parties just moved on to another point, as though they couldn't rebut it, and then come back to attack on that front again later (and get the same 'expert opinion' defense). They should have done better (hell, even if Harper and his expert were 100% right and anybody who looked into it would agree, which I doubt, just as a matter of tactics, you could do some token efforts to cast doubt on it in the minds of the electorate).
I actually would want Layton and the NDP to take power, but I don't think he has a hope in hell of managing it. Sadly, unless the Bloc Quebecois falls apart and the Libs and NDP take most of their seats while retaining their own power bases (fingers crossed), I think we're looking at another conservative win. Hopefully it's just a minority, and we can get a stronger Liberal leader (I actually like Iggy, but he doesn't do well on debates and there's too many irrelevant issues the conservatives can latch onto him with for slimy attack ads, so unless he wins, he's probably out as leader) for the next go around.
Or maybe I'm wrong and I'll turn out to be tone deaf on the debate performance like I sometimes am on things like the American Idol auditions.
Not going to talk too much on the policies themselves, though, just on who I think did the best job in the debate itself.
Sadly, I think the best performer was Harper. Damnit. Stayed on message like a robot and, more than most of the others, actually talked about specific plans and so came out looking more prepared.
Second was Jack Layton. He didn't land any knockout punches but at least he came off as reasonable most of the time.
Ignatieff didn't do what he really needed to in order to connect to voters, I think. Sometimes he'd make the same point again and again.
Worst was Duceppe, but then, it's not his native language, maybe he'll be gangbusters in the French debates tomorrow night (but I'll be skipping those). However, even aside from the difficulties in making his point clear, he didn't come off too well.
Now, I'm anti-Harper and no debate performance is likely to change my mind, so I was hoping the other parties would knock him off his stride a little, but sadly I don't think they did it. There were times that I thought of ways to attack his talking points directly that nobody seemed willing to do, and when he made a point about some expert saying his plan was all aces, the other parties just moved on to another point, as though they couldn't rebut it, and then come back to attack on that front again later (and get the same 'expert opinion' defense). They should have done better (hell, even if Harper and his expert were 100% right and anybody who looked into it would agree, which I doubt, just as a matter of tactics, you could do some token efforts to cast doubt on it in the minds of the electorate).
I actually would want Layton and the NDP to take power, but I don't think he has a hope in hell of managing it. Sadly, unless the Bloc Quebecois falls apart and the Libs and NDP take most of their seats while retaining their own power bases (fingers crossed), I think we're looking at another conservative win. Hopefully it's just a minority, and we can get a stronger Liberal leader (I actually like Iggy, but he doesn't do well on debates and there's too many irrelevant issues the conservatives can latch onto him with for slimy attack ads, so unless he wins, he's probably out as leader) for the next go around.
Or maybe I'm wrong and I'll turn out to be tone deaf on the debate performance like I sometimes am on things like the American Idol auditions.
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Date: 2011-04-20 11:07 pm (UTC)Ugh, I'm torn this election. I'm a dyed-in-orange NDP-er, but they have no chance in my riding. I am seriously tempted to vote Liberal just because I'm so sick of Stephen Harper. If even the Libs have no chance in my riding (I'm not sure they do), then I may even vote Green. I do not like the NDP candidate in my riding. See? UGH.