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Yeah, I'm equally dismissive of the "Mulcair is the only way we can win" and "I'm not saying Mulcair is (right-wing position), but..." camps. Mulcair isn't that special. Most of these candidates are basically the same when it comes to policy, which is mostly a good thing.
Good Saganash article!
Of course! I think about 80% of coverage on the NDP is pundents talking about how no one is interested in them any more.
Same strategy - picking something insignificant while ignoring the rest amd then focusing on why "everybody" is talking about the insignificant thing - noting that "everybody" is them.
Hoping that any of you on facebook, twitter etc have annoyed people at least a little bit by telling them when the debates are on.
CBC were just waiting for an opportunity to take the debate off the air and now they have found one. What absolute jerks!
Really? I've been watching cpac on the internetz.
First debate I have watched
My quick initial impressions are those with good stage presence include Ashton, Saganash, and Mulcair, and this is essential in our media driven world as it is quite often not just what you say, but how you say it.
i literally skip over anything that kens writes, knowing that it will be ill-considered, unreasonably biased against thomas mulcair, and completely unimformative. alas, i sometimes reluctantly learn what he's written through the responses of others. i with there were some sort of filter.
anyway, just to give people a taste of what we could face with continued ineffective leadership: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120128/nanos-poll-liberals-tories...
ndp behind the lpc nationally, barely ahead in quebec - all in the midst of a leadership campaign that ought to be generating unprecendented excitement. if we're really honest with ourselves, do we think we'll elbow our way back into contention with any but a thundering assault from the left? and in case anyone is under any illusions, the reason for the liberal rise is rebounds in cities and quebec, steered near entirely by bob rae. hm, now i wonder which of the leadership candidates best lines up against him...
Sweet zombie jesus, there's actual debate going on!
if someone was undecided going into this debate, i can't imagine how this one would help clear up that indecision.
i can't wait for the quebec debate, which should serve to re-order the media's focus coming into the final stretch, the ensuing clips and media discussion of that should bring dewar to an early ballot exit. nash's french is so weird that i'm very much looking forward to hearing her speak it for an extended period. and no matter how much i want mulcair to win, i do have to confess that i like all of these candidates a lot.
as a further aside, with the polls going south for the ndp, particularly in quebec, i wonder how the great mass of dippers will be re-assessing the candidates, i wish we had better polls.
This was the best ebate so far IMO. Cullen did well in the debate as always but I can not support him because of his nonsense co-operation policy. Ashton is too young and I find Nash and Topp less than inspiring. Dewar's French is not very strong although much better than mine. Sagansh seems to be quite a hesitant speaker. I met Mulcair and I found him quite warm and engaging. I will probably support him somewhat through the process of elimination.
Yeah I agree, Martin Singh came across really well.
I just don't think he is electable.
He's going to need a little seasoning before he'll be able to truly challenge Harper, for sure, but I think Nathan Cullen pulled away from the pack today in Halifax.
I missed that. What is he prescribing for Canada?
I think he is presenting his message well by focussing on his strengths and tying that to policy.
He is saying that a lot of money can be saved by creating a pharmacare plan and rejigging health care costs. He is saying that because of his experience as a pharmacist (which certainly involves talking to people about their health care), he is uniquely positioned to not only craft the implementation of the policy but to sell it.
He is also highlighting his experience as a small business owner. I think this is a fair thing for him to promote and I think the NDP ought to have a bold plan for small businesses. And I think his experience + the way he seems to approach issues would allow him to connect well with small business owners.
Is pharmacare and small business enough of a platform for potential leaders to run on? Probably not, but he can "me too" along with the rest of the candidates on things like proportional representation and bulk water exports.
The real issue IMO is his lack of parliamentary experience. But yeah, I thought he really came across well today.
Aw, Boom Boom, you who reliably appreciate my humour missed the pun in my question... Where will I go for fans now???
I thought today's debate was really excellent.
And hardly anyone is here discussing it.
Moderators, are you listening?
Apologize to Malcolm before everyone leaves.
Please don't apologise to Malcolm. He was always saying everyone's arguments were bullshit and implying everyone he didn't agree with were idiots. I don't miss his vainglory.
ETA: I haven't watched the debate yet.
NDP leadership hopefuls target Mulcair in second debate
You sound surprised! It is like boxing, you feel out your oponents and then you get a bit more fiesty. The first debate and the unofficials were basically feeling each other out - getting the measure of one's opponents.
Worth repeating while nodding in violent agreement. Never heard "give it a rest" during a leadership debate before.
They all seemed to do real well. Singh did impress me during the Question Period exercise - that he was able to hone in on the other's points enough to ask difficult questions that the others (ie Dewar) was not expecting - though the "family reunification" question makes it sound either like love at first sight or an arranged marriage. I get the feeling that he will drop out soon because he has impressed the home crowd that he has what it takes to go to Parliament and that he would make a good MP.
I don't think that Dewar expected the question and got tripped up on it. I think that Charlie Angus is a good fellow and an amazing MP, but "wait and see" did not get him out of the walk the walk aspect of gender issues. It was more about catching Dewar flat-footed than something that has legs (ie who wants to give Harper ammo) but, Dewar did not look as good at this portion as some of the others.
Everyone seemed to improve from last time, but some stood out a bit more than others.
Saganash did much better but still seemed to be having problems with his throat - my mom asked if he had throat cancer. Mulcair lived up to expectations. Nash had more energy than usual and did real well.
Nathan Cullen seems to be a bit of a devil's advocate. It is hard not to like his bad hair day analogy for Harper's interst in preserving Health Care!
Want to rewatch it because I never get to watch a debate without being interrupted and it took a few minutes before I got it up on CPAC after the CBC - which are the big losers in this debate - engage in tabloid TV.
Luckily I was on CPAC from the start, but I still missed a bit and will re-watch. And don't forget to have your remote set to CPAC French so you can switch instantly if you don't want to listen to a translator.
It's odd that no one has noticed how Cullen's proposal is being exaggerated: only a very few NDP ridings would take him up on his option. It would send a message to the Liberals and Greens but then the rug would usually be pulled out by the local ridings. Cullen must be tempted to say so, but then he'd be downplaying his own plan. Difficult for him. Still, the fact that he is second only to Nash on Facebook likes suggests he is doing better than many think.
At least Cullen got a big clap from the Halifax audience for Bill 1 being MMP. A bit of a surprise since the Nova Scotia NDP has shown zero interest in PR provincially.
Wilf, why don't you put it on "floor" if you wish to avoid the translators!
Nathan Cullen is a likable and funny guy. Why wouldn't he get likes!
I did not see the debate, so I'll have to watch it later on CPAC when I go to the library (likely tomorrow). CBC Radio actually did report on it in their news, however. They introduced the coverage by stating "the gloves come off in the most recent NDP Leadership debate". They reported that Dewar asked Mulcair about his position on bulk water exports and Mulcair angrily stated that he has never supported such a thing (the news also had Dewar later commenting that he simply wanted Mulcair to clarify what his position on it was and was not issuing an attack). They also reported some friction between the candidates on Cullen's open nomination for ridings proposal, and featured Mulcair, Nash, and Singh making statements against the proposal in the coverage.
A blog about the debate
The whole Mulcair and the donating thing, blah blah blah.
Actually Cullen did quite well today as well.
But don't think for a minute it doesn't matter that the CBC purposely pulled the plug on the debate.
Being in the media gives you points in the polls. Isn't it interesting that all the polls came out this past week, were just before, and not after, the NDP debate that was supposed to be carried live on CBC.
The CBC is on a mission to crush the NDP and need to have their newsroom and all political commentary abolished. The CBC shortly into the debate switched to the results of that sick trial which is only going to give the racists in Canada ammunition to continue their disgusting comments.
Fuck the CBC News Department!
I was in attendance at the debate today and found a couple things. The first was Peggy Nash. I will probably go and watch the debate online on CPAC to see how it looked on tv, but live it looked like she kept trying to go big and get a reaction from the audience only to have silence. It felt awkward. Cullen was great. He certainly has moved up on my list. As someone who has not made up my mind this debate did little to help. Best line of the debate though was Dewar poking fun at Peter McKay in the opening remarks. Got probably the best reaction. There was one other line that got a great reaction but I can't remember what it was