Friday Leaders Debate

[scribblet]

I didn't get chance to watch the whole thing, am interested in reading comments tomorrow. Does anyone think that Martin seems to be losing it, getting red in the face and - well - dithering? Not to mention getting more melodramatic than ever.

On the same note generally speaking, do you think he is not well these days, I wonder if he is finding this really stressful and he seems to be aging.

[newbie]

I didn't get chance to watch the whole thing, am interested in reading comments tomorrow.  Does anyone think that Martin seems to be losing it, getting red in the face and - well - dithering?  Not to mention getting more melodramatic than ever.

On the same note generally speaking, do you think he is not well these days, I wonder if he is finding this really stressful and he seems to be aging.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There were some moments where he wrapped himself in the flag again, and his passion seemed a little contrived. But I'm glad we are getting to see all leaders speak directly to the issues from "regular" Canadians. And oh, speaking of melodramatic, I think your signature is a little over the top.

[Guest eureka]

I think you are imagining you would like to see and not seeing what was there. I did not watch much, but I thought Martin handled it well.

As always, there were no winners but who could have thought there would be.

One thing that did strike me was Duceppe's eyes; the fanatic showed through.

[Shakeyhands]

and is Ed Broadbent the almighty? I think his name was invoked 6 times? Laytons strategy was pretty clear.

Harper, well, he appeared somewhat likeable and I have to admit I like the Senate proposal. His pro American tendencies shone through a little too much for my liking. Would he stand up for Canada? Really? No, seriously?

Martin, came off as a leader. He perhaps could have spent a bit more time on his Gomery answers but to me came off as honest and concerned.

Duceppe, why is he there again? At least we found out that he actually does like Canada anyway.

[Netherlands]

I watched the whole debate, and here are my thoughts:

I was very impressed with Martin, especially in the last half of the debate. He came off very well when he confronted Duceppe about Quebec separation. Now, I am a Liberal supporter, so take my comments for you what will, but that is my honest opinion.

Harper did come off as lacking emotion and somewhat dry. His answer came across as lacking passion, and more interested in saying we have so-and-so running as a candidate. Others might see him as coming off cool, or relaxed, and would see this as a positive.

Duceppe's performance was quite poor in my opinion - he had much more trouble with English than usual, not making sense on some answers ('fiscality' - I don't think that is a word).

Layton did not perform well either, as I thought he would take too long to get his message across, and several times he was cut off by the moderator.

All leaders had trouble in keeping to the question asked, and would veer off to talk about something else.

[shoop]

I think that Harper strived to appear more relaxed after the 2004 debates. He definitely gave the impression of trying to appear statesmanlike, definitely likely to be perceived as cool by some.

I noticed how often Layton got cut off. Anybody notice when they started cutting of microphones.

Harper did come off as lacking emotion and somewhat dry.  His answer came across as lacking passion, and more interested in saying we have so-and-so running as a candidate.  Others might see him as coming off cool, or relaxed, and would see this as a positive.

Layton did not perform well either, as I thought he would take too long to get his message across, and several times he was cut off by the moderator. 

All leaders had trouble in keeping to the question asked, and would veer off to talk about something else.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[lovecanada]

I watched the whole debate, and here are my thoughts:

I was very impressed with Martin, especially in the last half of the debate.  He came off very well when he confronted Duceppe about Quebec separation.  Now, I am a Liberal supporter, so take my comments for you what will, but that is my honest opinion.

Harper did come off as lacking emotion and somewhat dry.  His answer came across as lacking passion, and more interested in saying we have so-and-so running as a candidate.   Others might see him as coming off cool, or relaxed, and would see this as a positive.

Duceppe's performance was quite poor in my opinion - he had much more trouble with English than usual, not making sense on some answers ('fiscality' - I don't think that is a word). 

Layton did not perform well either, as I thought he would take too long to get his message across, and several times he was cut off by the moderator. 

All leaders had trouble in keeping to the question asked, and would veer off to talk about something else.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think Martin looked tired, like my Dad, or Grandpa and had no policies to offer, just slamming the opposition. I thought Layton won the debate, I kept on saying to myself,...if he wasn't NDP, I could vote for him! Harper might have lacked emotion, but he got his policies across to me, so I am better informed about there platform now.

[shoop]

Martin has been looking tired. It will be interesting to see how he looks after the Christmas break from campaigning.

I think Martin looked tired, like my Dad, or Grandpa and had no policies to offer, just slamming the opposition. I thought Layton won the debate, I kept on saying to myself,...if he wasn't NDP, I could vote for him! Harper might have lacked emotion, but he got his policies across to me, so I am better informed about there platform now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[August1991]

Sorry for creating another thread.

My reply is here.

[Clopin]

Proabably the only occasion where I felt all leaders were cast in a good light.

Martin didn't seemed tired to me, on the contrary I've always been impressed with the level of energy this man has, and tonight was no exception.

Harper was calm and collected... I didn't see any supressed frustration that any leader of opposition would have to struggle with. He was great!

Layton was his usual confident self, and looked much better in contrast with what he did last year. Good engagement skills.

Duceppe: direct, unflinching (though I'm sure the blood pressure was pushing the red line with Martin's uppercut on separatism)

Regardless of what we think of their ideologies or where they stand on the issues... you need to be quite extraordinary to be able to do what they do.

[scribblet]

I didn't get chance to watch the whole thing, am interested in reading comments tomorrow.  Does anyone think that Martin seems to be losing it, getting red in the face and - well - dithering?  Not to mention getting more melodramatic than ever.

On the same note generally speaking, do you think he is not well these days, I wonder if he is finding this really stressful and he seems to be aging.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

There were some moments where he wrapped himself in the flag again, and his passion seemed a little contrived. But I'm glad we are getting to see all leaders speak directly to the issues from "regular" Canadians. And oh, speaking of melodramatic, I think your signature is a little over the top.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My signature is a bit over the top, but so is Martin with his 'only liberal values are Canadian values' and screaming 'I-luv-Canada' at least 3 times - thats a bit over the top too, not to mention scripted and unbelievable.

http://www.torontosun.com/Comment/Commenta...16/1356910.html

Prime Minister Paul Martin himself came up with the best reason for defeating his Liberals in last night's lively televised debate among the four party leaders:

"The electorate ought to punish parties that don't keep their promises," he said at one point. Exactly.

And as NDP Leader Jack Layton and Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe immediately pointed out, Martin and the Liberals have been breaking promises to Canadians since 1993, when they promised to scrap the GST, renegotiate free trade, bring in a national daycare program -- and on and on.

[Chronic]

As I hope you all know a Federal Election is coming up on Jan 23.

There is one more Leaders Debate scheduled on Monday.

There is a petition collecting signatures to stop the TV executives from being the ones who decide who is allowed in the debates. Right now for a party to be recognized as an official federal party, they must get at least 2% of the popular vote. Once this happens they recieve funding from taxes and are regarded as an offical party.

At this point in time they should be being included in all Federal Political Events. That isnt the way it works though when it comes to the televised debates. Regardless of the criteria already set out for federal parties, the television executives arbritarily decide who can be invloved. Which means that they are subverting the federal election process if they follow any guidelines except the established governmental regulations.

For a brief refresher (or maybe new knowledge) there are 308 ridings across canada. In the last election only four parties ran a candidate in every riding. To me this is important, because if you wish to be a federal party that represents the whole country, shouldn't you have represenatives across the whole country? The four parties were; the Liberals, Conservatives, N.D.P. and The Green Party.

The following link is to a petetion at the Green Parties website. This has nothing to do with any poll or survey, and it is not about supporting the Green Party. It is about allowing the democratic principles that our country is about to work as they were meant to.

Nowhere does it say that televion executives should have the power to decide who has access to the leaders debates.

By monday's scheduled debate, we need to collect another 10,000 canadian signatures.

Just ask yourself this, wouldnt you at least like to see the leader of the Green Party have a chance to say his peace, especially considering a couple of million tax dollars went to them since the last election?

Here's the link

http://www.info-greenparty.ca/petition/

Let's let the democratic process work without hinderance from the television executives.

Tom Adshead