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2015 Federal Election

Daniel Dale asked on Twitter how excited people were about the Canadian debate and the US one, on a scale of 1-10. The GOP debate got more interest. Others would rather watch the Jays game.
 
My son has a baseball game tonight, which will take priority.

I wonder if in the case that Harper gets a minority, would the NDP and Liberals be willing to trigger another election that quick into the new term via a vote loss?

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/comm...tion-campaign-sets-a-new-low-in-politics.html

Michael Coren sure changed his views...

Patrick Brazeau‏@senatorbrazeau
Because of @pmharper's "decisions", I tried to commit suicide. I failed. #cdnpoli #suicide#LPC #NDP #suicide #CPC More in my book to come.
 
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I heard on CBC this morning that the debate isn't going to be broadcast on mainstream TV, that you'll need to go looking for it if you really want to see it, so yeah, how about those Jays?

Seriously, I'm willing to hunt for it because I want to hear what they have to say, but if it's not on the mainstream channels, most people won't go looking.
 
Woke up just in time to watch this.

Trudeau has done an excellent job framing the debate - and the election - with his opening statements by raising exactly the concerns and questions we Canadians are looking at this election.

Lovely that the moderator interrupted Harper right away with "that's not true Mr. Harper".
 
Harper's script in a nutshell:

"Let me be very clear on this, blablabla"
"The reality is, blablabla"
"That is not true, blablabla"
 
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Harper looked shaky and although it is certainly harder when you are the PM, he still looked uncertain and definitely not the fighter he is known to be. May did very well but when you only get 5% of the vote you can be more direct as you are appealing to a much small group of voters. Still she added a lot of energy and levity to the conversation.

I was unimpressed with Mulcair. He certainly didn't make any blunders and made some definite good points especially on the Senate and economy. Still, for the first 15 minutes he was no where and overall he was uninspiring. He was trying not to rock the boat as things are going well for him but it made him look uninspiring and more like a school principal than a true leader.

Trudeau is the one who surprised. He handled himself well, went on the attack but at the same time didn't come across as abrasive or offensive. His closing arguments were far and away the best of any of them. Instead of regurgitating what had been discussed for the last 2 hours he spoke from the heart and it seems both genuine and thoughtful.

I don't know if this debate will change any minds as there were no knock out blows but Trudeau came thru in the end and he will benefit from tonight.
 
My ranking:

1. Elizabeth May
2. Tom Mulcair
3. Stephen Harper
4. Justin Trudeau
5. Paul Wells

Elizabeth May was the most solid debater tonight, she really knows her stuff and her closing statement about the lack of any discussion of social policy, income inequality etc. in the debate was the best y far.

Mulcair was OK in the first half but really shined more in the second half, getting some good zingers in and hitting hard at Harper's record.

Harper got hammered and he basically stuck to his talking points. I doubt he won any new support tonight but I'm sure he's still in the 30-33% range.

Trudeau was OK in the first half but really tanked in the second half when he dropped the Clarity Act issue and looked especially weak defending C-51.

The moderation was atrocious.
 
Regarding the moderation, I was impressed when he directly asked Harper if he should apologize for appointing Duffy, Wallin and Brazeau.

Harrper and his lackey spokesman promised media availability, but decided against it.

Also, the Liberal candidate in my area is doing a great job of putting up signs, at least in the Wexford area.
 
I also thought Trudeau was the surprising one last night. Whoever handled his prep, kudos! I can't stand the way the man normally talks, and last night he seemed like a completely different person.

That is... until the closing statement. What the hell was that? And why the hell are the Liberals standing behind it as a good closing? It was terrible! All Trudeau had to do was hold the momentum he had throughout the debate and he would have came out unscathed, especially after Mulcair tripped on his words and got lost midway through his closing. I was hoping for a knockout from Trudeau and instead got a whimper.

May was by far my favourite of the night. I really hope this debate leads to her securing more votes, and that the broadcasters see the benefit of having her at the debates to begin with. She wasn't afraid of supporting good answers from other candidates, and she wasn't afraid of attacking either. The lack of partisanship from her is refreshing and something I'd like to see more of in Parliament.

All in all, I think everyone did a good job. No clear winner to me, and no clear loser. Harper held his own, Mulcair got his vision across, May came out as coherent and prepared, and Trudeau proved he could stand up there with the big guys. Kudos to Macleans too... It was a great debate and the moderation was among the best that I can remember.
 

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