ElectionWatch 2010 - 15.4 edition
It's a televised debate night! It's a new thing for us over here, having the three main political party leaders (Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat) stand up and talk about their policies for 90 minutes or so. Tonight's theme is apparently "domestic policies", which they get 45 minutes to talk about, and then the remaining 45 minutes is taken up with general stuff.
I think it's a shame that the debates are limited to just the three main parties, but at the same time I realise that if they were going to have all the parties up there, the programme would end up being about 10 hours long, and no-one wants that. Still, it would be a good comparison to hear parties like UKIP and the BNP stating their policies against the Tories, Labour, the LibDems et al, if only so that people could see just how... different their policies are from everyone else's...
2024: I'm watching the debate on the ITV website. It has Facebook and Twitter comments enabled, and real-time chat as well. So even if the debate is boring I can laugh at the comments...
2026: At the moment though, they seem to be torturing me with Coronation Street. With a strange "Like/Neutral/Dislike" graph superimposed on the screen. It looks like we're about to play Pong...
2030: They're late. Is this a bad omen?
2032: Aggghh! Ad for the Daily Mail!
2033: It looks like they're preparing for taking part in The Weakest Link with the way they're standing.
2034: Nick Clegg gets to start off. Instantly the Pong line starts going up, a good sign for him.
2035: Wow, now the line's really going down as Gordon Brown speaks.
2036: Wow. David Cameron's getting a Matterhorn with that line as he speaks. Wish I actually understood what it meant beyond Like/Dislike...
2037: First question from the audience got the line back to "Neutral". Then Brown started talking and it started bouncing round like someone had given it caffiene.
2038: Wow. David Cameron talking about limiting immigration is really liked by the line.
2040: And now Nick Clegg's views on immigration. Personally I think they're the most sensible, but the line did not agree as much...
2042: Okay, this is actually surprising. So far, The Line actually seems to be liking Nick Clegg's thoughts best. On the other hand, when Cameron brought up the idea of "Border Police" people seemed to perk up, which is worrying...
2044: What's depressing is reading the comments as they pop up on the site and realising just how stupid some people out there really are...
2046: Oooh, Brown and Clegg seem to be starting to agree with each other on immigration now. People were wondering if this was going to happen and what it could mean for a hung parliament.
2048: Law and order question. Cameron and now Clegg both bring up the "more police on the streets" answer, which is all well and good except you can only do that if you have the police in the first place...
2050: Holy crap, The Line loved Clegg's answer. It's going down as Brown is speaking though.
2052: A poll at the bottom of the ITV page says that 48% of people think that Nick Clegg is coming out on top in the debate so far. That's surprising me and my cynical nature.
2055: Clegg's down to 44%. While they argue over law and order, I decided to submit a comment to the ITV site.
2056: Now they're talking over each other and trying to win people over with anecdotes. I don't think it's going to work.
2057: Looks like ITV didn't like my comment. I guess it was too sensible/cynical/literate.
2058: My previous point is proved in the mass amount of comments complaining that prisoners "live in luxury" and have human rights. Here we go with the "Hangin's too good for 'em!" comments...
2102: Talking about the expenses scandal now. To be honest, it's all going over my head - all I cared about last time was that Mark Fisher bought a Kit-Kat and some face paints for kids once, and that was that.
2104: And there's the second agreement of the night between Clegg and Brown...
2106: Oh, here we go. They're interrupting and sniping at each other like a trio of schoolkids now.
2107: Heehee: Cameron going on about "serve the public trust". Hope he doesn't forget "Protect the innocent", "Uphold the law" and "Don't arrest any senior member of OCP".
2110: As we start talking about education, I'm realising one upside to the TV debates. It seems like people who might not normally have cared are getting exposed to the arguments of other parties and are finding themselves surprised by it all. A fair few people are saying that they're actually liking what Clegg and the LibDems have to say.
2114: 62% of people now think Clegg's doing the best in this debate. This doesn't include Warren Ellis, who just tweeted: Watching the Election Debate. Like looking at three abortions crawl out of a bin and try to dance for coins." But then again, Ellis is awesome and so gets to say whatever he wants.
2117: It's nice that Cameron sends his kids to state school. Really. Its bearing here? Not much.
2122: Back to the economy and the defecit. One of the things about the LibDems I like is that they're at least trying to be honest about where the money will come from. Also, I really don't like Brown's repeated use of the phrase "double-dip recession".
2124: I admit, when they're talking about the economy I start to drift off. The Line's not helping matters; it's bobbing up and down like a heart monitor at this point.
2130: Maybe they should have given the debate moderator here a big stick to hit the participants with when they refuse to stop talking...
2132: Clegg's plan to give soldiers a pay rise in line with the rest of the emergency services is a brilliant one and I was shocked to hear this wasn't already the case.
2133: And there's Brown going for a cheap sentimentality pop there...
2134: 54% think Clegg will improve the economy. Even with the way the numbers adjust as more people vote, he's still far in the lead of the other two. Again.
2135: Brown just brought up the "terrorist threat" argument. Apparently we're going to train up the Afgani police - my question is, why haven't we already done this?
2138: Now 68% think Clegg is winning the debate. This is really turning out to be a godsend to the LibDems if the numbers stay with them.
2140: Cameron's trying the "personal stories" trick again, regarding the number of helicopters we have in Afganistan. Brown disagrees quite testily with him.
2143: Talking about the NHS and care for the elderly now. Nothing about help for people who aren't elderly and need care, though...
2147: From my own experiences with the NHS, I know it still needs improvement. The amount of time Nick had to wait for his psych appointments, the time it took for me to get an appointment for my ultrasound...
2152: The candidates are starting to repeat themselves.
2154: Finally, Clegg brings up help for carers! Woo! True, the one week's respite wouldn't work for me, but it's a start and I'm sure plenty of people would be able to take advantage of it. Sadly, Brown and Cameron seem to think only the elderly need carers.
2159: Brown is really like a broken record now. All he can talk about is people not having to sell their homes, over and over...
2200: Closing statement time.
2201: Clegg remembered the names of everyone who asked questions. Impressive.
2202: Brown is boring people with his closing statement.
2204: Cameron thinks he's Obama. Oh dear.
2206: And that's it, with Nick Clegg and the LibDems coming out very well indeed. These debates could prove to be a changing point in the elections this year.
I think it's a shame that the debates are limited to just the three main parties, but at the same time I realise that if they were going to have all the parties up there, the programme would end up being about 10 hours long, and no-one wants that. Still, it would be a good comparison to hear parties like UKIP and the BNP stating their policies against the Tories, Labour, the LibDems et al, if only so that people could see just how... different their policies are from everyone else's...
2024: I'm watching the debate on the ITV website. It has Facebook and Twitter comments enabled, and real-time chat as well. So even if the debate is boring I can laugh at the comments...
2026: At the moment though, they seem to be torturing me with Coronation Street. With a strange "Like/Neutral/Dislike" graph superimposed on the screen. It looks like we're about to play Pong...
2030: They're late. Is this a bad omen?
2032: Aggghh! Ad for the Daily Mail!
2033: It looks like they're preparing for taking part in The Weakest Link with the way they're standing.
2034: Nick Clegg gets to start off. Instantly the Pong line starts going up, a good sign for him.
2035: Wow, now the line's really going down as Gordon Brown speaks.
2036: Wow. David Cameron's getting a Matterhorn with that line as he speaks. Wish I actually understood what it meant beyond Like/Dislike...
2037: First question from the audience got the line back to "Neutral". Then Brown started talking and it started bouncing round like someone had given it caffiene.
2038: Wow. David Cameron talking about limiting immigration is really liked by the line.
2040: And now Nick Clegg's views on immigration. Personally I think they're the most sensible, but the line did not agree as much...
2042: Okay, this is actually surprising. So far, The Line actually seems to be liking Nick Clegg's thoughts best. On the other hand, when Cameron brought up the idea of "Border Police" people seemed to perk up, which is worrying...
2044: What's depressing is reading the comments as they pop up on the site and realising just how stupid some people out there really are...
2046: Oooh, Brown and Clegg seem to be starting to agree with each other on immigration now. People were wondering if this was going to happen and what it could mean for a hung parliament.
2048: Law and order question. Cameron and now Clegg both bring up the "more police on the streets" answer, which is all well and good except you can only do that if you have the police in the first place...
2050: Holy crap, The Line loved Clegg's answer. It's going down as Brown is speaking though.
2052: A poll at the bottom of the ITV page says that 48% of people think that Nick Clegg is coming out on top in the debate so far. That's surprising me and my cynical nature.
2055: Clegg's down to 44%. While they argue over law and order, I decided to submit a comment to the ITV site.
2056: Now they're talking over each other and trying to win people over with anecdotes. I don't think it's going to work.
2057: Looks like ITV didn't like my comment. I guess it was too sensible/cynical/literate.
2058: My previous point is proved in the mass amount of comments complaining that prisoners "live in luxury" and have human rights. Here we go with the "Hangin's too good for 'em!" comments...
2102: Talking about the expenses scandal now. To be honest, it's all going over my head - all I cared about last time was that Mark Fisher bought a Kit-Kat and some face paints for kids once, and that was that.
2104: And there's the second agreement of the night between Clegg and Brown...
2106: Oh, here we go. They're interrupting and sniping at each other like a trio of schoolkids now.
2107: Heehee: Cameron going on about "serve the public trust". Hope he doesn't forget "Protect the innocent", "Uphold the law" and "Don't arrest any senior member of OCP".
2110: As we start talking about education, I'm realising one upside to the TV debates. It seems like people who might not normally have cared are getting exposed to the arguments of other parties and are finding themselves surprised by it all. A fair few people are saying that they're actually liking what Clegg and the LibDems have to say.
2114: 62% of people now think Clegg's doing the best in this debate. This doesn't include Warren Ellis, who just tweeted: Watching the Election Debate. Like looking at three abortions crawl out of a bin and try to dance for coins." But then again, Ellis is awesome and so gets to say whatever he wants.
2117: It's nice that Cameron sends his kids to state school. Really. Its bearing here? Not much.
2122: Back to the economy and the defecit. One of the things about the LibDems I like is that they're at least trying to be honest about where the money will come from. Also, I really don't like Brown's repeated use of the phrase "double-dip recession".
2124: I admit, when they're talking about the economy I start to drift off. The Line's not helping matters; it's bobbing up and down like a heart monitor at this point.
2130: Maybe they should have given the debate moderator here a big stick to hit the participants with when they refuse to stop talking...
2132: Clegg's plan to give soldiers a pay rise in line with the rest of the emergency services is a brilliant one and I was shocked to hear this wasn't already the case.
2133: And there's Brown going for a cheap sentimentality pop there...
2134: 54% think Clegg will improve the economy. Even with the way the numbers adjust as more people vote, he's still far in the lead of the other two. Again.
2135: Brown just brought up the "terrorist threat" argument. Apparently we're going to train up the Afgani police - my question is, why haven't we already done this?
2138: Now 68% think Clegg is winning the debate. This is really turning out to be a godsend to the LibDems if the numbers stay with them.
2140: Cameron's trying the "personal stories" trick again, regarding the number of helicopters we have in Afganistan. Brown disagrees quite testily with him.
2143: Talking about the NHS and care for the elderly now. Nothing about help for people who aren't elderly and need care, though...
2147: From my own experiences with the NHS, I know it still needs improvement. The amount of time Nick had to wait for his psych appointments, the time it took for me to get an appointment for my ultrasound...
2152: The candidates are starting to repeat themselves.
2154: Finally, Clegg brings up help for carers! Woo! True, the one week's respite wouldn't work for me, but it's a start and I'm sure plenty of people would be able to take advantage of it. Sadly, Brown and Cameron seem to think only the elderly need carers.
2159: Brown is really like a broken record now. All he can talk about is people not having to sell their homes, over and over...
2200: Closing statement time.
2201: Clegg remembered the names of everyone who asked questions. Impressive.
2202: Brown is boring people with his closing statement.
2204: Cameron thinks he's Obama. Oh dear.
2206: And that's it, with Nick Clegg and the LibDems coming out very well indeed. These debates could prove to be a changing point in the elections this year.