Today at 8.30pm in Manchester, British political history was made...the main party leaders came together for the first ever televised debate in the run up to the general election.
Although, I was torn between watching this and Welcome to Lagos on BBC2, I feel that the former was an event not to be missed. You know, history and all that. Usually, the papers disagree with me (lol) but I believe that the debate was only beneficial for the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg. He was calm, composed and in control of himself. I found myself thinking...'I wish it was a viable option to vote for this man'. But I'd rather vote for a feeble Labour than vote for a viable Liberal Democrat candidate because splitting the vote will let in HIM....David Cameroon (yuck!). It's a shame, but Politics is a game.
But anyway, back to the debate...What was the fuss? Look, the British sensibilities do not allow the debate to get as interesting as these things do in the US. And nothing up for the vote is interesting enough to grip me or most of the people I know. It's all personality, it's all very American and I can't stand it. We have a parliamentary system, not a presidential system of government and for me this does not fit the UK. And I wonder how much this will turn on the electorate. Brown was still the staid, calm, figure-quoting Brown. Cameron was the same 'suave', makes-me-sick-to-my-stomach, fake-Blair, Cameroon. But Clegg, ahhhhh, CLEGG...for me was a breath of fresh air. Instead of playing the role of the LibDem stuck between the two 'big' parties, he genuinely seemed to have a distinct platform for his party. HOWEVER, I'm happy they had the debate because at least now Nick Clegg is getting play, which is going to get the other two scared. At least a little.
I doubt that in and of itself that this debate would have made a big difference to who will become the next Prime Minster and what the turn-out would be. But the only lingering soundbite I got from this little show, which was purely a nasty accident by Gordon Brown and David Cameron....'I agree with Nick!'
Roll on, round two...
3 comments:
The LibDems always sound more radical than Labour. Is that because they know they will never be put to the test?
Man I wish you'd recorded this for me. Nick Clegg huh? I never thought he had it in him. My loathing of Cameron knows no bounds. Fake Tony Blair circa 1998 indeed.
@grahamghana That's an interesting way of looking at it.
@ Sankofa - iPlayer is your friend...it was BBC2, so u should be able to catch it.
@ Grahamghana - I think a lot of people have had that thought before but it wasn't a case of the Lib Dems sounding more radical. There is little between the three. It was more a case of, Clegg made himself seem like he really could lead if he was allowed. Whereas predecessors like Charles Kennedy (Alcoholic) and Sir Menzies Campbell (seriously unpopular) just didn't look like they could.
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