Picture the scene; three friends, Texas BBQ pizza, cans of beer, plenty of banter and ... a lively political debate on the TV.
It felt more like the FA cup final than the general election. And that can only be a good thing for bringing people back to politics. Not even the 7 million pre agreed rules could ruin what turned out to be a lively yet insightful debate with a surprise runaway winner.
Sorry, add one more thing to this winning equation – Twitter. I was glued to it, probably more than the actual debate. In 90 minutes I had tweeted close to twenty times.
But the real attraction was in what everyone else was saying. I watched the public pour scorn on their political adversaries through the #leadersdebate hashtag whilst the Conservative and Labour feeds competed for points online.
My two favourite tweeters were John Prescott and Alistair Campbell. They were giving a blow by blow account of how they saw the debate panning out:
@johnprescott Tonight you're seeing the real Gordon I know. Funny, intelligent and a man of real substance #leadersdebate
@johnprescott Substance beats style EVERY time. Solid win for Gordon. Just doing post-match analysis with John Denham! #leadersdebate
@campbellclaret Post-match review of #leadersdebate - Clegg wins on style, Brown substance, Cameron shallowness
@campbellclaret Cameron now has the look of a man about to see a team that will tell him he did well, and he'll know they're just trying to cheer him up
I, of course, agreed with every word. In my eyes it was John, Alistair and I taking it to the people last night! It was an interactive election debate like never before and I am proud to say that I played my part!
Sorry, add one more thing to this winning equation – Twitter. I was glued to it, probably more than the actual debate. In 90 minutes I had tweeted close to twenty times.
But the real attraction was in what everyone else was saying. I watched the public pour scorn on their political adversaries through the #leadersdebate hashtag whilst the Conservative and Labour feeds competed for points online.
My two favourite tweeters were John Prescott and Alistair Campbell. They were giving a blow by blow account of how they saw the debate panning out:
@johnprescott Tonight you're seeing the real Gordon I know. Funny, intelligent and a man of real substance #leadersdebate
@johnprescott Substance beats style EVERY time. Solid win for Gordon. Just doing post-match analysis with John Denham! #leadersdebate
@campbellclaret Post-match review of #leadersdebate - Clegg wins on style, Brown substance, Cameron shallowness
@campbellclaret Cameron now has the look of a man about to see a team that will tell him he did well, and he'll know they're just trying to cheer him up
I, of course, agreed with every word. In my eyes it was John, Alistair and I taking it to the people last night! It was an interactive election debate like never before and I am proud to say that I played my part!
@andrewwebster25 "What matters is what comes out" - exactly David #leadersdebate
How did they perform?
Nobody landed a knock-out blow or will forever rue a horrible gaff, and I don’t think the format of three people plays to that. But it did bring out their personalities and positions better than any individual interview could.
Clegg positioned himself as the ‘alternative’ with policies placed so high on the moral high ground that they seemed a little hard to envision. It wasn’t surprising he did so well. He was concise, passionate and effectively positioned himself away from the mucky business of governing. “The more they attack each other, the more they sound the same,” he said.
Cameron’s clever sound bites and sincere apologies for the behaviour of politicians, on the other hand, just weren’t as effective when flanked by the other two leaders. His references to NI just seemed arbitrary as he tried to bring it in to every debate. That is old news now and a card he should have held in reserve. When Brown pushed him for answers he didn’t seem to have any. “This isn’t question time, David, it’s answer time,” Brown said.
And although Brown was still a bit prickly and often got tongue tied, I thought he brought his A game to Manchester last night. He was funny, getting the only laugh and applause of the night for a quip thanking Cameron for putting him on the Tory campaign posters. As numerous tweets pointed out he also had ‘substance’ talking about commitments on spending and promising a referendum on electoral reform. Still he wasn’t quite smooth or articulate enough to turn these clever quips and concrete points into viral hits.
How did they perform?
Nobody landed a knock-out blow or will forever rue a horrible gaff, and I don’t think the format of three people plays to that. But it did bring out their personalities and positions better than any individual interview could.
Clegg positioned himself as the ‘alternative’ with policies placed so high on the moral high ground that they seemed a little hard to envision. It wasn’t surprising he did so well. He was concise, passionate and effectively positioned himself away from the mucky business of governing. “The more they attack each other, the more they sound the same,” he said.
Cameron’s clever sound bites and sincere apologies for the behaviour of politicians, on the other hand, just weren’t as effective when flanked by the other two leaders. His references to NI just seemed arbitrary as he tried to bring it in to every debate. That is old news now and a card he should have held in reserve. When Brown pushed him for answers he didn’t seem to have any. “This isn’t question time, David, it’s answer time,” Brown said.
And although Brown was still a bit prickly and often got tongue tied, I thought he brought his A game to Manchester last night. He was funny, getting the only laugh and applause of the night for a quip thanking Cameron for putting him on the Tory campaign posters. As numerous tweets pointed out he also had ‘substance’ talking about commitments on spending and promising a referendum on electoral reform. Still he wasn’t quite smooth or articulate enough to turn these clever quips and concrete points into viral hits.
Scores on the doors
AsI watched the Twitter commerntary and live ITV poll I thought Brown had Cameron. All the live polling had Cameron last and there was a definite anti-Cameron sentiment amongst the tweeting public. I felt so confident of Brown’s ascendency, that when the conservatives tweeted: "@conservatives ITV's tracker of how people feel about what the leaders are saying plummeted when Brown spoke about defence #LeadersDebate"
I immediately replied:
"@Andrewwebster25 @Conservatives I wouldn't be directing people to the ITV tracker if I were you, not flattering"
But it appears @conservatives got the last laugh. As soon as the debate finished I was shocked to see all of the polls point to a Clegg victory with Cameron in second and Brown brining up the rear. Were these people watching the same debate I was? This spells bad news for the Prime Minister.
The evening was summed in the closing exchanges though. Gordon spoke about improving education, policing and the NHS and paying down the deficit through difficult decisions such as the rise in NI, whereas Cameron filled it with the usual meaningless sound bites: “choose hope and not fear...” "We're in this together.." etc etc. With everything he says I think the public would be wise to ask themselves, ‘What does that even mean?’
So what happens next?
Well Clegg will retain his popularity as someone above the petty bickering, but still completely unelectable. Cameron will attack more and become more aggressive. Despite the polls, he will know that it wasn’t a good night for him. And Brown should feel confident from his performance and continue to ask questions the Tories aren’t prepared to answer.
Will this change the outcome? Well voter turnout will definitely be higher as a result of these debates and there might be some fluctuations. But from the polls this morning it seems even a winning performance by Brown on prime time TV can’t convince the electorate that he is the right man for the job.
"@Andrewwebster25 @Conservatives I wouldn't be directing people to the ITV tracker if I were you, not flattering"
But it appears @conservatives got the last laugh. As soon as the debate finished I was shocked to see all of the polls point to a Clegg victory with Cameron in second and Brown brining up the rear. Were these people watching the same debate I was? This spells bad news for the Prime Minister.
The evening was summed in the closing exchanges though. Gordon spoke about improving education, policing and the NHS and paying down the deficit through difficult decisions such as the rise in NI, whereas Cameron filled it with the usual meaningless sound bites: “choose hope and not fear...” "We're in this together.." etc etc. With everything he says I think the public would be wise to ask themselves, ‘What does that even mean?’
So what happens next?
Well Clegg will retain his popularity as someone above the petty bickering, but still completely unelectable. Cameron will attack more and become more aggressive. Despite the polls, he will know that it wasn’t a good night for him. And Brown should feel confident from his performance and continue to ask questions the Tories aren’t prepared to answer.
Will this change the outcome? Well voter turnout will definitely be higher as a result of these debates and there might be some fluctuations. But from the polls this morning it seems even a winning performance by Brown on prime time TV can’t convince the electorate that he is the right man for the job.
