the debate

[dancingbear]

i know wrong forum...but hey sometimes politics has to go mainstream.

i really like Elizabeth May. I think she seems to really know the issues, and speaks concisely and clearly about them, while actually answering the question.

harper seemed like he always does...i'll kinda listen but then do whatever i want anyhow.

dion seems like a nice guy, but maybe as a new role of vice-priminister?

layton...i thought he spoke so well last election, now he sounds like a parrot uttering 'reall issues, facing real canadians, kitchen table' over and over.

thoughts?

[SaggyBalls]

I really like Dion and he was the most refreshing breath of hot air there. I thought he handled himself. While I still believe the Green tax shift is better, I was impressed by Dion's communication skills the most.

Harper looked like he was speaking to the table most of the night. He's not Blind. He looked like Jeff Healey.

[MoMack]

I agree for the most part - but Elizabeth May kills me. She was well spoken. She will probably get move votes, and thanks to the Liberals propping her up in her riding, she may even win a seat.

But her bit about thinking for Canadians for the short, middle and long term is B.S.

She doesn't care about the short term. She cares about her own political aspirations and getting a seat to build the green party.

I still don't understand why we need a "green party". From what I heard last night, and what I've gotten out of cbc radio etc. (admittedly I haven't gone through the party's platforms line by line), but from what I've got she is a Liberal in a party that most would see as being NDP.

Why doesn't she get her well-spoken self involved in the Liberals or NDP. Why do we need a Green Party? We have a right wing party. We have a left wing party. We have a centrist/flip-flop party. None of them are perfect in their ideologies and its a constant evolution.

The Greens have 12% poplular vote right now. Sure many of the votes may be from people that haven't voted in the past. But still, engage them to vote for one of the other parties. The last poll I read was approx. 36%PC, 24% or 26% Lib, 18% NDP and 12% Green. The 12% Green will translate to what, one seat? But it'll prevent the Liberal/NDP coallition from gaining the power in the house.

Look, the system is broken - I believe there should be a mixed first past the post / proportional representation system. But there isn't right now. And Elizabeth May and her Green Party will not help us to get one by keeping Harper in power.

Arrghhh

End of Rant.

[rubberdinghy]

I can't see any of those people running this country.

[Booche]

I had to stop watching every time the camera panned to Elizabeth May.

[AD]

thanks to the Liberals propping her up in her riding, she may even win a seat.

uh, she's running against Peter MacKay. She doesn't stand a chance.

(But I'll be very pleasantly surprised if she does, by some insane miracle, pull it off)

[jayr]

It annoys me highly that the media claims that Harper won the debate. He bumbled through the whole thing and was IMO slapped around like a rag doll.

[AD]

"the media" is claiming all sorts of things.

[Booche]

I read a couple of articles that suggested he was trounced.

[rubberdinghy]

I wonder if Harper reads the skank?

[dave-O]

I ended up flipping between the US and Canadian debates more than I expected. Despite the entertaining round-table format, I found the 4 on 1 beatdown unwatchable at times.

CAN:

I actually didn't think she should be there, but Elizabeth May proved she deserved to participate. She delivered some of the best blows against Harper, but in the end I didn't think she really told us much about what the Green Party stands for.

Layton - He had the strongest moments of anyone, but his performance in these debates is always so uneven. He bumbled his way through the arts topics (which he should have nailed) and was as guilty as anyone of not answering the actual questions.

Dion held his own, but I can't see him gaining any numbers based on that debate.

Duceppe - Too bad he isn't leading a different party. The guy is frigging smart.

Harper sort of just sat back and took the onslaught.

Quick comment of the US one... Biden was impressive IMO. He always brought his counterpoint back to facts about McCain's voting record. "How can you say McCain supports X when he's voted against X 27 times in the senate?" It was strange, Palin never countered any of those claims. It was like she didn't know McCain's record. Maybe she doesn't?

[Gateaux]

I must admit I watched the U.S. debate for the most part. The Canadian debate was a shitshow, seemed like it was organized by high schoolers.

Palin was certainly more impressive than her interview with K. Couric but in my opinion Biden devoured her. How many times can you say "doggone it", "maverick" and "soccer mom" without people wanting to claw their eyes out.

[AD]

The Canadian debate was a shitshow, seemed like it was organized by high schoolers.

i thought the format was pretty good. paikin did a great job.

[rubberdinghy]

I must admit I watched America's Next Top Model and Jamie in Australia instead.

I know she's only 19 but cmon!

[Davey Boy 2.0]

relax

[Hal Johnson]

I must admit I watched the U.S. debate for the most part. The Canadian debate was a shitshow, seemed like it was organized by high schoolers.

Palin was certainly more impressive than her interview with K. Couric but in my opinion Biden devoured her. How many times can you say "doggone it", "maverick" and "soccer mom" without people wanting to claw their eyes out.

And that stupid grin! I hear ya dude, I was thinking the same thing the whole time. at least Biden finally called her on the "Maverick" crap.

I flipped over to BBC at the end of the debate and they were commenting on Palin holding her baby. They said something like, "That's the image she needs to be protraying right now, good for her." Good for her? She holds her baby like EVERY SINGLE OTHER MOTHER in the history of time has ever held their baby and she's special?? What if she didnt hold her baby? What if she maybe got a babysitter to look after her baby who should have been asleep since 7:00pm??

Tell you what, if i was Biden's advisor I'd a had his grandson come up on stage with a football and he and his grandpappy would have played a good old fashioned game of catch right there after the debate.

[Velvet]

You can see why Harper didn't want May at the debate. She knows she won't EVER be PM so she can say whatever the hell she wants. Nobody else feels like they can get away with calling Harper's comments fraudulent.

I wanted to strangle Dion. He was handed the question of his campaign and given first response. Did he look into the camera and say plainly to the country, "The Green Shift plan will lower your taxes and instead tax big polluting business"? No, he looked into the camera and started explaining the project in just enough detail to make most people not listen to the end and not get it, just like he always does. Other than that I thought he did well, and it's obvious he has been working on his presentation.

I agree that Duceppe is an impressive politician, and if he led a different party I might be a fan. I loved it when he would state plainly that Harper was repeatedly avioding a question. When Harper was aked a question directly he was given time (out of turn) to answer. With that in mind he should have been bound to answer or forfeit his rebuttal.

Layton did nothing to indicate what his party has been pushing - that they are the new alternative to the New Conservatives.

The two times I switched over to the US debate (for a total of about twenty seconds) made me nauseous. American politics is a very sick joke that is being played on 300 million people and forced on billions more.

[phishtaper]

i think harper should have used the soccer mom approach ...

[can-o-phish]

I can't see any of those people running this country.

My thoughts as well...kept asking myself how is it that these people are the leaders of our federal parties...because those more intelligent than these "leaders" know that a better life is not found in poltics...

Though Elizabeth May, I thought, was the one who addressed the issues best...

What the hell do I know...they're all idiots!!

But man, Harper's arrogance is brutal...good study on copying the mannerisms of US politicians though...

[edger]

Todd and I were also talking about how we thought it was too bad that Duceppe was not the leader of a different party. Regardless many of his comments regarding decentralization are of relevance across the board.

I thought Elizabeth May did a great job. She was critical, was one of the only ones that emphasized the importance of facilitating community development initiatives that provide multiple/mutually enhancing benefits to the economy/environment/society. Much of the rest of the world has caught on to this common sense. I liked her comments regarding the "bad economics" with respect to the fear mongering that surrounds polluter pay principles.

I was dissapointed in Layton. He does sound like a broken record spewing little more than hollow rhetoric. It's too bad. But I suspect that he was nonetheless successful rallying a significant demographic.

Dion to me comes across as a whiny school boy that's always getting picked on, and can't get over the fact that life isn't fair. I really don't see the liberals benefiting much due to him.

Harper was calm and collected despite being the obvious target for criticism. He doesn't rattle easily... I'll give him that.