Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Politics / Debate: By not losing, Harper won

Debate: By not losing, Harper won

04/13/2011 by backofthebook.ca Leave a Comment

canada-2011-election-debateBy Montreal Simon

I wish I could say that the three opposition leaders smoked Great Ugly Leader last night, and that they were still hoovering him off the floor. But they didn’t, so I can’t. Because at this point delusion could kill us.

They held their own, they landed some good blows, but their attacks weren’t focused enough, and they missed too many good opportunities to put Stephen Harper on the defensive.

The good news? The debate probably won’t move many voters. The bad news? The debate probably won’t move many voters. And by not losing Stephen Harper probably won.

Anyway, for what it’s worth, here’s how I scored it:

STEPHEN HARPER: He looked so pretty I was sure he was wearing lipstick, and he was definitely on some kind of tranquilizer . . . probably Zombie dust from Haiti. He creeped me out by staring straight into the camera with those cold, dead piggy eyes.

But then that’s what you’re supposed to do when you’re in a television studio. Forget your three opponents and address your three million viewers instead. And by restraining the beast within him, he probably didn’t scare any voters, and for him that’s a small victory.

GILLES DUCEPPE: He had the best line of all: “Mr Harper is tough on criminals, just not those in his government.” He also rattled Harper with his charge that Harper had tried to form a coalition in 2004. But his English let him down, and when he went after Harper for his deal with Newfoundland and Labrador, he probably delivered that province to the Cons. Dommage.

JACK LAYTON: He looked really good, the most relaxed and friendly of the four leaders. He scored points going after Harper on medicare, and bringing up what he had said on that subject in the past. But he wasn’t specific enough. Imagine how much more effective he could have been if he had memorized this quote:

stephen-harper-healthcare

And asked Harper to explain how he could expect ANYONE to trust him?

And then there’s the sad fact that Jack’s most devastating blow was the one he aimed at Ignatieff over his attendance record. You can be sure that the Conservatives will have that one in an attack ad by tomorrow morning. And use it against BOTH of them.

MICHAEL IGNATIEFF: Considering it was his first debate, and the pressure on him, I thought he did better than expected. Just not good enough to shake the tree. He did hammer Harper on the democracy question, but he kept repeating himself. He looked beat, and at some points disoriented. When Jack hit him with the attendance record he could have said he was out listening to what ordinary Canadians had to tell him, but instead he just looked rattled. And when for some reason he addressed Duceppe in French, it was just bizarre.

But I thought Ignatieff’s greatest failing was that he looked too worried and angry, and not confident and hopeful enough. He spent a lot of time attacking the Cons, but not enough time promoting his own program.

While Harper, when he wasn’t lying or evading questions, promoted his budget baubles like a robot.

So what does all this mean? It depends on the spin from the MSM. But my guess is not too much. The progressive leaders all emerged relatively unscathed from their encounter with the werewolf robot. I doubt many people’s minds were changed. And there is still a lot of campaign to go, and the drip drip of scandal to take its toll.

What is clear to me though is that we have to sharpen our message. If we can’t convince Canadians that a Harper majority would be a frightening prospect it’s all over.

We also have to work harder than ever to get that message out and convince people to vote, because our leaders can’t win this one alone.

So tonight at Simon’s Anybody But Harper Party Saloon we’re featuring this website to help people vote strategically.

Work hard. Vote smart. Leaders are leaders.

But the future is up to ALL of us . . .

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: 2011 election, Bloc Quebecois, Canada, Canadian politics, Conservatives, Gilles Duceppe, Jack Layton, Liberals, Michael Ignatieff, NDP, Stephen Harper

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2022 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in