The leaders debate has given the Liberal Democrats perhaps their best ever coverage in the press it has ever had.
I'm not going to bang on about who won here as the more important poll is the effect this has had on the marginals. I thought that Cameron was good against Brown but not so good against Clegg. I also thought Brown did not gain any voters due to the debate and im certain Cameron did not gain many voters for the Tories. After the good performance of Nick Clegg (which may help to answer the question 'who is Nick Clegg?') Liberal Democrats would be happy to gain a few percent and some more supporters. As an activist I can add that it has inspired me to work harder as I think it must of done others activists. I still believe the most important debate will be the last one on the BBC. This is because Sky will not have as many people tuning in and the BBC is the nearest to the election.
The Fabian Society blog has done an excellent analysis of the impact of the ITV debate called 'Will the Clegg factor make fear of a hung Parliament more difficult?'
I think it would be best if the Liberal Democrats don't over play the who won the debate point (even if its hard to resist) and just let the public decide. I also think Nick Clegg should get some trouser that fit him as that was the only complaint about Clegg I heard down the pub.
So in summary even though I really enjoyed this debate I think its best to wait and see what the effect is on the polls and not over react on the instant polls.I'm also expecting many more attacks on the Liberal Democrats. So lets let the debate sink into the minds of the voters first.
You make some very good points here, it is early days and as someone put it "it's a three course meal and last night was just the starter". Will the Sky debate (the main) be a meat and potatoes meal or some bland vegetarian!?
ReplyDeleteBut I have to agree with you in that nothing beats dessert (the BBC debate holds most the cards). Lets wait and see!
Pretty good poll results for you so far. Lets see if it holds till next week.
ReplyDeleteYes Walaa the last will be the best and now they have to attack Clegg its going to hot up.
ReplyDeleteAdrian im not confident once we get really attacked im sure we will lose some votes, but I hope to end up in a stonger position.
There is always the chance of a positive feedback loop, lets see, atleast this election more exciting than any for a long time. And that goes for Green too Adrian.
I'm pretty sure neither Gordon or David will be using the phrase "I agree with Nick" in the next two debates..
ReplyDeleteI agree with Greengabbles
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