So..thoughts on the first ever debate?

[truebrit71]

I was listening at my desk and was rather impressed. I found it very interesting that alot of Brown's statements included the phrase "and I agree with Nick" or "and Nick agrees with me on this" whihc leads me to believe that the PM is very definitely hedging his bets towards a hung parliament with a coalition govt having to be formed with the Lib-Dems.

Cameron was just a British version of Bush.."all you blue-collar people are the salt of the earth..blah blah blah..but I'm not really going to do anything for you"..

Brown was stronger and more forecful than I'd imgained he would be
Cameron was smooth, smarmy, and full of hot air..just as I'd imagined he would be
Nick Clegg...oy...Needs to drive home that HE really represents the change and not the re-branded thatcherism on offer from the Toffs...

I am curious to hear the opinions of those that actually watched it and see if their opinions differ..

[ikri]

1. Clegg won by a mile

Cameron didn't come over too well, lots of buzzwords & not a lot of substance. Can say the same about Brown to be fair.

Brown & Cameron spent far too much time sniping at each other which left Clegg free to appear above the fray and look more like a statesman than the other two.

A YouGov/Sun poll had Clegg winning the debate with 51%, Cameron on 29% & Brown on 19%. ITV has Clegg on 50%, Brown on 30% & Cameron on 19%. Sky News has Cameron on 41%, Clegg on 32% & Brown on 27%, no bias there at all. None whatsoever.

If Clegg can continue this in the next two debates he'll win over a lot of voters IMO.

[Mr Creosote]

2. We thought

that Cameron came over as insubstantial - all meaningless soundbites. Brown I thought was tetchy. Clegg was the clear winner on the night. But in the absence of a socialist candidate here I shall still vote Labour.

[BooScout]

3. Clegg won....

There's no question that Clegg won. He left Brown and Cameron in the dust.

Gordon Brown looked rather silly after a while with his falling all over himself trying to make himself Clegg's best friend.

Cameron...came off worse than I thought he would.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. I'd say there wasn't much in it

Unlike American presidential debates I've seen, there wasn't much difference between the speakers (Americans having tended to be 'intelligent' versus 'clueless' in the past 3 debates). Clegg may have come out slightly ahead, in terms of being able to say "the other 2 are still just slagging each other off", occasionally; but mainly he does well just by getting the same visibility as the other 2. No-one made any major cock-ups, or landed killer blows on the others.

[LeftishBrit]

5. I thought Cameron LOST, and that there wasn't that much between the other two

Brown came over as stronger and more passionate than he often does; Clegg was very reasonable but sometimes IMO overdid the youthful-earnest-'we're the only honest ones' bit. But both were miles ahead of smarmy Cameron. He reminded me of people whom I dislike IRL, who like to project an image of how kind and helpful they are, but will contemptuously and self-righteously reject any *actual* request for help.

Cameron's final speech sounded very much 'on the defensive'.

There was IMO a little bit of an undercurrent of Brown trying to court Clegg and the LibDems as possible coalition partners in a hung parliament.

[non sociopath skin]

6. To be honest, I channel-hopped and didn't watch the whole thing ...

... but I found Brown plodding, Clegg impressive in a Blair sort of way but ultimately unconvincing and Cameron authoritarian and patronising.

The polls have been amusing - clearly, people saw what they wanted to see. Don't think Cleggy did himself any harm though. Another couple of good performances will make a difference in Lib Dem marginals IMHO.

Ain't gonna be no landslides on those performances, though.

The Skin

[miscsoc]

7. Blair won huge majorities though!

I'm sure you found him unconvincing too - I did - but the public love that sort of thing. Also Clegg is marginally more genuine-seeming than Blair, tho. only marginally. I do think he would make the best prime minister though.

[non sociopath skin]

8. I don't think that Blair's huge majorities were purely down to his "charm"

And, to be honest, I have no idea what kind of Prime Minister Clegg would be.

But, as it ain't going to happen, we need not concern ourselves too deeply with the question. What kind of Home Secretary he might be? Maybe ...

The Skin

[miscsoc]

9. he won't realistically

i'd imagine him as a decent one.

he'd certainly make a good liberal jenkins-type home secretary though.

cable would be a decent chancellor, as good as could be hoped for within the prevailing system.