I am obviously talking about Biden vs Palin, was there something else on tonight? Just kidding, I was running between two different televisions all night (the repeat helped) but most of the political junkies that I know were glued to Palin and Biden, waiting for a train wreck from either one. Here is my take on the big debates:
Palin vs Biden:
There is no question that Biden won the debate, that was expected. Palin looked better on camera and some people liked her personality if they tuned out the substance of what she was saying, that was also expected. There were some surprises though, Biden did something I did not predict. He did not go after Palin at all. For a while, it looked like Biden vs McCain and Palin just happened to be there by mistake. The democratic strategy was pretty clear, focus on McCain and let Palin dig her own grave. Did it work? Well, Biden did help Obama with this debate by being one more character witness and used all his ammunition to attack McCain’s track record. Without McCain there, it was like shooting ducks in a barrel. The downside is that Palin got a break and an opportunity to put past embarrassing interviews behind her and present a different side of her. It wasn’t hard, all she had to do was make sense.
The republican strategy was to do what Obama did to McCain, which is to paint Biden as the past. It didn’t work and it was a long shot to begin with.
Harper vs everyone else:
The TSX took a free fall by about 800 points today. Let me put it another way, many people lost their savings. Harper says its all good, no problems in our economy. Frankly, I am surprised the other candidates let him off hook as easily as they did. Maybe it was because their campaigns thought that Harper was perceived to be stronger on the economy and so they wanted to move on to the issues they were perceived to be stronger on. I think that was a major mistake.
Who won? Well, I can tell you who lost. We did, the voters. All the candidates seemed so preoccupied with scoring shots at Harper that they forgot to really explain what they would do for us. The time spent on their own platforms looked like breaks a boxer would take between rounds. In fact, it was competition between who would kick Harper the hardest. For the first time in political history, I think we’ve finally seen a debate where even the pundits and reporters seem to have felt sorry for Harper and gave him points for being able to survive the 4 on 1 bombardment. Canadians like a fair fight. If the goal was to make Harper look scary and angry, it didn’t work. The smart thing was to separate your self from the pact by agreeing with everyone’s critique and passionately explaining what you would do instead. Dion did it once on one issue and it looked great but that moment was short lived.
Elizabeth May did well but her constant interruptions looked very non prime ministerial. Otherwise, she did better then I expected.
Jack Layton’s rehearsed one-liners will make good tv clips but he needed to do more to take the lead for 2nd place. Mainly, he needed to show that he could represent everyone, not just those who agree with him. He needs to bring in Liberal, Green and Bloc votes to him through rhetoric that unites, not divides. Layton probably did polarize the base in his corner but it won’t be enough.
Dion wasn’t consistent. At times he looked composed but at other times he looked too sensitive to the attacks of others. Being tough doesn’t just mean throwing hard punches, it also means being able to take one on the chin and stay cool. I think he did much better at the French debate then this one.
As for the leader of la revolution, Gilles Duceppe. He would have been the best one to connect with voters if he wasn’t so hung up on leaving Canada. Ironically, his party looks like the one that will prevent Harper to get the votes he needs in Quebec to get majority.
No clear winner at this debate. I just know that non of them really accomplished what they set out to do. I recommend voters find out about their local candidates to make their final choice. There are thousands of local debates happening across the country so I recommend going there or just googling as much information as you can. Otherwise, if everyone just focuses on the leaders of the parties, I think we’ll have a very low turnout on October 14th.
I agree that Layton sometimes appears too scripted. In fact, they are all scripted. But Layton’s delivery style is very polished; perhaps too much so. Nevertheless, I didn’t see Layton’s contributions as either parochial or divisive. He established a clear choice: Harper’s $50 billion giveaway to banks and oil companies — supported by Dion and the Liberals — or badly needed investments in our social fabric. I suppose his vision is “divisive” only to the extent that one is either on the side of banks and oil companies, or on the side of working people, the middle class, and their families. That’s hardly parochial, though.
It seems to me that many Liberal supporters, and past Liberal supporters, recognize Dion’s shortcomings and the fact that the Liberals are currently in disarray. Let’s face it: the Liberal campaign is a total non-starter and the platform is nothing special. But staunch Liberal supporters are too Liberal to make the progressive choice; it’s like they’d be surrendering their identities or something. The fact is this: Layton and the NDP have established themselves as the real opposition to Harper, and as a viable centre-left alternative. Regardless of Jack’s sometimes “one-liner” style, the NDP is undeniably the fighting progressive choice in this election.
Now, quite apart from all of our individual perceptions, what did viewers of the televised English debate think? Ipsos Reid reported the following:
- Viewers said that Layton ranked second in the debate, after Harper.
- Viewers said Layton was their second choice for Prime Minister, after Harper.
- Viewers said that the NDP had the second-best platform, after the Conservatives.
- Viewers said that Layton is the most likeable party leader.
In other words, my individual observations are backed up with empirical evidence provided by survey data and statistics. Layton and the NDP are seen as the real opposition. And out of all the party leaders, Layton is the most likeable. It would appear that his “one-liner” approach is not such a bad thing, after all. I see it differently: unlike so many NDP leaders of the past, Jack is gifted with the ability to put big important ideas into concise language that resonates with voters’ values. What a change from the same-old Conservatives, same-old Liberals, and all of their empty rhetoric and broken promises.
Really, anybody who is concerned with social justice should think twice about supporting a party (the Liberals) that spends so much of its time attacking the one party (the NDP) that has consistently, since its inception, been THE voice for social justice in Canadian politics. Make no mistake about it. The Liberals are a Bay Street party. Just how “progressive” could they ever really be?