Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Quick debate mini-review.

We saw Harper at his best tonight. He is clearly at peak of his communication powers. Calm. Steady. On message.

Clearly the "winner" if you can have a winner in such things.

Michael Ignatieff stumbled a bit, though he had periods where he was on a roll. Key problem is inexperience. (I guess the Harvard debating club isn't that good.) He needs more training, more debates. Of course, this will likely be his last English debate.

Jack Layton was OK. Just basically on auto-pilot. Landed a few good shots against Ignatieff.

Duceppe was Duceppe.

And did anybody miss Elizabeth May?

15 comments:

Kadam said...

My view is written above, thanks for saving me the time to write it up ;p

Elizabeth who?

Steve Stinson said...

Next time Ignatieff should probably focus on the debate instead of tweeting. He seemed to be tweeting throughout the debate.

Anonymous said...

Harper relaxed, talke to the people stayed calm, like the adult putting up with unruly children.

Layton had some good ones there, especially about Iggy's work record. Iggy was gob smacked.

Iggy, well even I was surprised at how out of touch he really is.

Duceppe should not have been there.

May? Nope. Glad she wasn't there.

Roy Elsworth said...

pm harper wiped the floor with iggy so ignateff see why harper didn't want that 1 on 1 he smoked you. and people will never learn you cannot beat harper on a debate about the economy he has a masters as an economist. so I don't know why they even try

Anonymous said...

Iggy could not beat Layton! forget PM were looking at a new official opposition leader. "At least we form government" Uh oh I'm entitled to my entitlement!

middle aged female of Toronto said...

Ignatieff just looked plain tired -during the Debate, and during the press scrum. Is this his way of looking nonchalent and cool, or is he just worn out? Thank goodness the Debate wasn't completely boring as it would have been with Ms. May in the mix.

Paul MacPhail said...

I felt that Ignatieff was the more experienced actor. Unfortunately his facts weren't exactly factual. I listened on CPAC afterwards to some of the callers; there are some real nuts out there that believe everything he said contrary to the evidence. Hopefully some of the people watching were undecided and are able and willing to check the statements made by the leaders. To those Liberal diehards out there, I think you should now realize that you can't count on the Count.

Anonymous said...

Iggy Why did you NOT show up for 70% of the votes in the house of commons?

Out of the country
Out of Parliament
Out of Touch
Out of a job

priceless

Conrad Winn said...

The debate magnified what Canadians think of the leaders (per the poll to come out in the Sun chain tomorrow). Conrad Winn

Anonymous said...

i thought the biggest tell of who wins this debate is the one who looks as though they are talking to canadians. harper always looked into the camera and to me that spoke volumes about how he was able to relay his message. have to admit, jack was pretty good. iffy was scripted. it was the same thing from him over and over again.

brad

Rotterdam said...

Ignatieff lost his cool, twice, at Layton....very condescending.

"at least we are elected to government, not forever in opposition"

"I do not need any lessons in democracy from you"

Anonymous said...

PM Harper stuck to the facts. He didn't throw any dirt or mud, or even run down the other parties. He just stayed on his own message.He performed with class and dignity and I rate him at 100%. Layton got in a few zingers and rates about 50%. He was good but his content wasn't.Good for him to stand for 2 hours. Duceppe was angry, and frazzled...20% and Ignatieff was a total flop....0%.

Anonymous said...

Harvard Debating Club - LOL. Did you see the photo taken last time with Elizabeth May - where is her image consultant

Andrew said...

For me the highlight of the debate was the Ignatieff - Layton bickering:

http://youtu.be/qUbGoUZJqA0

Alan said...

I will admit, my respect grew a little for Ignatieff, but it was so low to begin with. Here's why: He always tries to blow things WAY out of proportion, and did not seem to do that during the debate. Though he kept repeating his little pointless catchphrase, "Jets, jails, and corporate tax cuts". So annoying...
Jack Layton is a big talker for someone who's never formed government.
My respect for Duceppe fell. So self-righteous. I used to say I would vote for the Bloc if they fielded candidates in all of Canada, but now...
Anonymous said it best: Harper looked like an adult putting up with unruly children. Still my favourite.
I'm glad May was out. She makes it 4 against 1. We all know her view: socialist with an environmental agenda (I hate the word "green")