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Prime Ministerial Debates- Thread

Well, of course it doesn't. But my observations of the LibDems over the years have spotted it in suprisingly large measure in that particular party.

Rolfe.
 
Rat said:
I think what he did was come across as honest and confident. As far as I can tell, people were impressed with both that and the fact that he was neither Cameron nor Brown.
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It is interesting, I only watched the first question and then I listened to it via my gnome in another room and to me Clegg did not come across particularly better than the other two, but my other half who watched the debate thought that he came across much better than the other two.

Personally I think the "bounce" in opinion polls is simply from his exposure and the fact he isn't Cameron or Brown, he's the new face when most folks have only really seen Brown & Cameron and I suspect are fed up with both of them rabbiting on!

What's the betting that in the next debate there won't be any more of the "I agree with Nick" comments from Cameron or Brown?
 
Darat said:
It is interesting, I only watched the first question and then I listened to it via my gnome in another room and to me Clegg did not come across particularly better than the other two, but my other half who watched the debate thought that he came across much better than the other two.
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That's exactly the effect I wondered about, earlier, but haven't seen any polls which broke down the results based on whether people watched or only listened to the debate.

What's the betting that in the next debate there won't be any more of the "I agree with Nick" comments from Cameron or Brown?
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There was a documentary last week about the history of television debates, and I'm surprised they were making this mistake as it's one of the things one of the US presidents did (I think it was Gerald Ford, when debating with Jimmy Carter, but could have misremembered), which made it look as though he was a follower, not a leader.

(ETA: That programme did have an explanation of why Nixon looked so bad on screen; he was recovering from an infected wound to his knee (which he also knocked again on the way into the studio), hence the sweating and general pallor, and also refused make-up as he heard Kennedy decline the offer (but Kennedy then got made-up anyway).)
 
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I have the impression that for now the effect of boosting interest in the lib dems is being sustained. Whether it will survive the next two debates is moot. My own feeling is that it will. I think that a lot of people are thoroughly disgusted with their "own" party, whether that be labour or tory: many were finding it hard to contemplate voting at all. This debate has given them some possible alternative and it may be it was enough to give them the notion they might as well try lib dem, because the other two parties are very unpopular and so a vote for lib dem might actually count this time.

Interesting at any rate ...
 
Fiona said:
I have the impression that for now the effect of boosting interest in the lib dems is being sustained. Whether it will survive the next two debates is moot. My own feeling is that it will. I think that a lot of people are thoroughly disgusted with their "own" party, whether that be labour or tory: many were finding it hard to contemplate voting at all. This debate has given them some possible alternative and it may be it was enough to give them the notion they might as well try lib dem, because the other two parties are very unpopular and so a vote for lib dem might actually count this time.

Interesting at any rate ...
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I think it'll survive the second debate because it's on sky....how many viewers are they going to get for that? 3-5 million absolute tops. The BBC debate on the economy will be interesting - The Great Leader will probably do quite well, and the Lib Dem's somewhat left-wing economic policy might not go down too well with middle england....
 
andyandy said:
I think it'll survive the second debate because it's on sky....how many viewers are they going to get for that? 3-5 million absolute tops. The BBC debate on the economy will be interesting - The Great Leader will probably do quite well, and the Lib Dem's somewhat left-wing economic policy might not go down too well with middle england....
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Wasn't Nick Clegg a member of the Orange Group, which is much more economically right wing? I don't know if this is the case, but I have seen it asserted a lot in the comments sections of a lot of blogs recently.
 
Cable pledged to cut public spending by more than either of the other two parties: so hardly left wing economic policy
 
Professor Yaffle said:
Wasn't Nick Clegg a member of the Orange Group, which is much more economically right wing? I don't know if this is the case, but I have seen it asserted a lot in the comments sections of a lot of blogs recently.
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Fiona said:
Cable pledged to cut public spending by more than either of the other two parties: so hardly left wing economic policy
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you might be right, the lib dem's economic policy has largely passed me by :)

I think they've come out as tougher on the banks than the other parties. re public sector cuts - the difference between them and lab/con is that they at least made an effort in the budget to provide some figures...i would imagine they'd cut less than the tories in actuality...but who knows? Liberal Dems are small state at heart....
 
Fiona said:
I have the impression that for now the effect of boosting interest in the lib dems is being sustained. Whether it will survive the next two debates is moot. My own feeling is that it will. I think that a lot of people are thoroughly disgusted with their "own" party, whether that be labour or tory: many were finding it hard to contemplate voting at all. This debate has given them some possible alternative and it may be it was enough to give them the notion they might as well try lib dem, because the other two parties are very unpopular and so a vote for lib dem might actually count this time.

Interesting at any rate ...
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Totally agree.
 
I've just put a bet on one of the more important things to be decided at tonight's debate:

"Who's going to be first to mention their wife?"


I've gone for Grim Gordo at 15/8 - he's going to bring in £11.50 if he comes good.....:)
 
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