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Alberta Votes Day 19: The Morning After
The hype machines were in overdrive for yesterday’s Alberta Leaders Debate, but the outcome was similar to most debates: steady but unspectacular performances from all the candidates, with the end result nothing more than re-enforcing existing attitudes. The post-debate Ipsos poll bears that out; when asked who won, 37% opted for Smith, 28% for Redford, […]
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Alberta Debate Live Blog
6:35 pm: Fairly flat opening statements for all four leaders. Vision, future, prosperity, puppies, sunshine. 6:42 pm: Health Care starts with a very substantive discussion between Sherman and Redford, then Mason and Sherman tag team arguing the “two conservative parties” want to privatize Health Care. 6:48 pm: You know what this debate is missing? Gilles […]
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Alberta Votes Day 18: Debate Night in Edmonton
More often than not, the Alberta leader’s debate is a mere formality, intended to create a vaneer of democracy in a province where elections tend to be meaningless. It’s barely worth watching, because even if someone delivers the mythic “knock out punch”, it doesn’t affect the election outcome. Hell, had Ed Stelmach literally gone over […]
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The Morning After
Last night was the lone televised debate of the Ontario election campaign. With the vote too close to call, a lot was riding on it, and after last night… …not a heck of a lot changed. I have a hard time seeing how anyone would actually change their mind as a result of last night’s […]
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Ontario Debates
No one knows who will win the Ontario election, two of the three leaders remain virtual unknowns, and the campaign still lacks a ballot question. Yet somehow, without warning, Ontario finds itself just 9 sleeps away from Voting Day. So tonight’s debate will be important. I’ll be live-blogging the festivities starting at 6:30, and will […]
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Et Le But!
I’ve only had a chance to watch bits and pieces of last night’s debate, where the leaders exchanged hockey metaphors as freely as hockey players exchange body checks. So far be it from me to try and make sense of who won or lost, especially when the clips I saw featured a charming Scottish translator […]
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Le Debat
Although the french debate has been moved to accomodate millions of rabid hockey fans, the new date does not convenience me. So I leave this as an open thread to comment on the debates – I’ll be back later tonight or tomorrow morning with some thoughts, after I’ve seen the tape. Like you, I look […]
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Post Debate
And now we spin. I’m not going to call a winner on this one, because it’s very difficult for someone who eats and breathes politics to predict how people tuning in for the first time will absorb what they saw. Often it comes down to body language, or one toss away comment on an issue […]
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Debate Live Blog
7:00 pm: We are ready to go! Vegas had the over/under on “coalition” mentions by Stephen Harper at 8.5. Place your bets! 7:02 pm: Fun fact – this set was also used in the 1972 debate. Geez, you think they could have used some of the G20 stimulus money on new panelling. 7:08 pm: I’ll […]
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Debate Prep
I’ll be live-blogging the debate tonight, so tune in here at 7 pm Eastern for kick-off. Until then, here’s everything you need to know to get ready: FORMAT: Gone is the free for all PM-pile on. Gone is the round table. Instead, the focus will be on a series of one-on-one debates between the participants. […]