Leaders debate Aug 6

[hitops]

So far it seems like a competition between Mulcair and Trudeau to explain who would be more generous in buying us off with our own money. Harper certainly gets in on the contest to a lesser extent. May is pretty articulate, and relies less on sounds bites.

Nobody is saying anything patently false as far as stats quoted, just using them selectively.

Harper is making decent points about how tax revenues increased while rates decreased. Also good points about increasing payroll tax as being useless. Mulcair is doing some serious cheery picking but normally he sounds a little more put together. Trudeau is pretty much all sound bites, except he made one true statement that Mulcair basically just panders to those who love to hate corporations. May is the most engaging and interesting. She is very precise in her points. They are all mostly nonsense from fantasyland, but she delivers them well.

On style, I would rank in order of most to least annoying:

Trudeau

Mulcair

Harper

May

[Smallc]

I would agree, except that I really don't like May so I'm probably biased there.

[Shady]

May is very annoying. On a different note, Mulcair's position on Quebec separation is going to be a problem for him.

[Topaz]

May knows more than any of them and I've never heard her tell half-truths, Harper on the hand, did do some tonight and was called on it.

[Vancouver King]

Surprised at Trudeau's competent performance. I would rank them this way:, best to worst:

Trudeau

Mulcair

May

Harper

[Evening Star]

Yeah, I was very impressed by May as well, enough to seriously consider the Greens. I thought Mulcair totally won the exchange on the Clarity Act, to be honest. JT's closing remarks were ludicrous: "you need to feel it in your bones"?

Edited August 7, 2015 by Evening Star

[-1=e^ipi]

I hate them all but I would have to agree with this ranking.

On style, I would rank in order of most to least annoying:

Trudeau
Mulcair
Harper
May

So Mulcair wants a $15 minimum wage and Trudeau is against raising the retirement age despite increasing life expectancy?

[Evening Star]

Neither of those points is new information, I would think?

I guess I'd rank them:

May

Mulcair

Harper

Trudeau

[hitops]

Wow Trudeau's closing remarks were cringe-worthy. Pretty awful. It appeared he was still talking to the bathroom mirror.

I liked May's closing because it was a little different (mentioning a bunch of members running in election), but it made sense for her and her party's situation.

Hard to pick a winner, though definitely Trudeau was the worst. Still sounds like a high-school public speaker. May not be fair to him, but he still looks and sounds like a kid. He had a decent answer to Mulcair pushing him that one time.

Winner? I would probably say Harper. He held his ground without much fluster and sounded calm. No misteps. Nobody was amazing. I would pin the ribbon on Harper with a resounding 'meh' for this one. I think the low-risk, low-reward approach was appropriate for his situation.

Edited August 7, 2015 by hitops

[blueblood]

Wow Trudeau's closing remarks were cringe-worthy. Pretty awful. It appeared he was still talking to the bathroom mirror.

I liked May's closing because it was a little different (mentioning a bunch of members running in election), but it made sense for her and her party's situation.

Hard to pick a winner, though definitely Trudeau was the worst. Still sounds like a high-school public speaker. May not be fair to him, but he still looks and sounds like a kid. He had a decent answer to Mulcair pushing him that one time.

Winner? I would probably say Harper. He held his ground without much fluster and sounded calm. No misteps. Nobody was amazing. I would pin the ribbon on Harper with a resounding 'meh' for this one. I think the low-risk, low-reward approach was appropriate for his situation.

Thats harpers go to for debates. Hes a seasoned vet at them and follows the game plan to a T. You wont see harper going for a knockout, just making sure he doesnt fluster. Heck it won him a majority the last time...

[Freddy]

Someone needs to tell Trudeau less is more. Even if he wouldn't understand what the meaning behind this is.

Edited August 7, 2015 by Freddy

[PrimeNumber]

Harper on the hand, did do some tonight and was called on it.

This.

[Evening Star]

I thought that some of May's strong points included: arguing that voter participation is a more serious issue than 'vote-splitting' or impractical Senate reform/abolition, making strong points on the Libya mission and problems with the current Iraq mission, raising the issues that were not covered in this debate, holding Harper's feet to the fire on his environmental record. She provided a lot of specific data on economic and environmental issues.

[PrimeNumber]

Trudeau stumbled out of the gate and never recovered. I think Harper handled the economy portion better than I thought he would. May and Mulcair came out winners on the environment portion. Harper took a massive hit on all things political and even stood up for Mulcair when Trudeau lambasted him about Quebec sovereignty . A battle Trudeau lost.
I think Trudeau lost a lot of swing supporters that probably will split between Mulcair and Harper.

I think Mulcair looked creepy, but didn't truly faulter in any way.
Harper may have stood pat but there were many times he took many hits from everyone.
I think after this debate we will see a slight rise in NDP support, Conservative support and probably Green support. With a drop in liberal support.
After reading a lot of online comments on the videos, it seems it's pretty clear cut that May was the winner of that debate.

[cybercoma]

You know you're fighting a losing battle when the NDP and CPC are on the same side against you. Mulcair was absolutely right on that one and it made Trudeau look like a complete idiot; the only two politicians talking about separatism are Trudeau and Duceppe. Trudeau criticizes Mulcair's stance on referenda, but Trudeau refuses to give benchmark himself. He's playing with fire and losing....badly.

Edited August 7, 2015 by cybercoma

[Derek 2.0]

In my opinion:

Prime Minister Harper- Same old, same old solid, calm, defense. I liked how he didn't apologize for Duffy etc, but accepted responsibility and to hold those that broke the rules to account. I also enjoyed his response to the Clarity Act debate. We still need to get his programmer to rewrite the code for his Sheldon Cooper smirk though.....I think he did go in not sounding like a jerk to Trudeau and May, well still discounting them.

May- I was surprised, she did come across as well read and calm.......kept the lid on the tin-foil hat stuff for the most part.

Mulcair- Never realized how beady his eyes are, his voice sounded like he had a few stiff ones.........joking aside, I think he did himself a great disservice during the Clarity part with Trudeau......his continual "Justin what is your number", well others were talking, made him seem childish, and I think he wrecked any likability among undecideds......he came across as a bully and rude.

Trudeau- As much as it pains me, despite sometimes sounding whiny, he did well, and I think, will benefit the most out of this debate.....much thanks for the bullying and rudeness from Mulcair, but there you go.......

[Evening Star]

Mulcair- Never realized how beady his eyes are, his voice sounded like he had a few stiff ones.........joking aside, I think he did himself a great disservice during the Clarity part with Trudeau......his continual "Justin what is your number", well others were talking, made him seem childish, and I think he wrecked any likability among undecideds......he came across as a bully and rude.

Hey, all JT had to do was answer the question!

[Derek 2.0]

You know you're fighting a losing battle when the NDP and CPC are on the same side against you. Mulcair was absolutely right on that one and it made Trudeau look like a complete idiot; the only two politicians talking about separatism are Trudeau and Duceppe. Trudeau criticizes Mulcair's stance on referenda, but Trudeau refuses to give benchmark himself. He's playing with fire and losing....badly.

I agree fully, but Mulcair made Justin the fool by being a jerk, that will hurt Mulcair among some.

[Shady]

I'm not a Mulcair supporter, but May's rudeness toward him regarding a specific energy project was borderline nagging. Especially when he already explained that decisions should be made after proper assessments. What was so hard for her to understand?

[Shady]

You know you're fighting a losing battle when the NDP and CPC are on the same side against you. Mulcair was absolutely right on that one and it made Trudeau look like a complete idiot; the only two politicians talking about separatism are Trudeau and Duceppe. Trudeau criticizes Mulcair's stance on referenda, but Trudeau refuses to give benchmark himself. He's playing with fire and losing....badly.

Exactly. I don't know why he didn't just say something like a two thirds majority when pressed.

[PrimeNumber]

I agree fully, but Mulcair made Justin the fool by being a jerk, that will hurt Mulcair among some.

I doubt it. Everyone talked over each other at times. Mulcair wasn't the only one badgering on questions.

[PrimeNumber]

I think Trudeau will be the lone sufferer in the polls after this debate.

[Derek 2.0]

Hey, all JT had to do was answer the question!

Sure, I agree fully that it is largely a non-issue (One most Canadians outside of Quebec don't know of, nor care), what is left, is a bad image left by Mulcair......he should have asked Trudeau once "his number" and let it alone, well confirming the Prime Minister's point that its largely a non-issue......

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I also think, in the weeks ahead though, Mulcair confirming his carbon tax, well raising CPP and EI deductions will sink him........

[cybercoma]

It was really interesting to see Mulcair working overtime to paint the NDP as the centrist party between the Greens and the Conservatives, while completely ignoring Justin over at the kids' table.

[PrimeNumber]

Sure, I agree fully that it is largely a non-issue (One most Canadians outside of Quebec don't know of, nor care), what is left, is a bad image left by Mulcair......he should have asked Trudeau once "his number" and let it alone, well confirming the Prime Minister's point that its largely a non-issue......

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I also think, in the weeks ahead though, Mulcair confirming his carbon tax, well raising CPP and EI deductions will sink him........

I think your dislike towards Mulcair, is making something that I don't think anyone else cares about, more of a point than it should be.