Unlike me my wife is not political and I often find she is a good sounding board for hearing what ordinary people, those who do not live and breathe politics, think about the political events of the day.
Each election my wife always invites me to watch the English debate with her. That is when she becomes most engaged in elections. I always turn her down because I learned a long time ago that they are a pointless exercise but she still watches them. In most cases she watches them to the end but this time she called me and asked me what she was seeing. Like alot of other people she was having a hard time following the action because of the format and because the candidates "don't seem to saying much". After about 45 minutes she turned it off, which is the least amount time I have known her to watch a debate since we became a couple.
As with all of the debates I asked her what she thought. I never ask her who she thought won the debate I ask her what she thought about each candidate. Usually, she gives me impressions and then asks me questions to clarify what each said. This time she could not do that because she really did not understand what was being said by the candidates.
I will spend the next few days educating her on what each party platform says. She is generally progressive so she will either vote for the NDP or the Liberals (she has voted for both in the past.)
That got me thinking about the impacts of the debate on other "ordinary voters". For many the debates are when they start to become engaged and when they begin to form an opinion of who they want to vote for. If other Canadians had the same reaction as my wife it could be bad news for the Opposition parties.
As I have stated in past posts I do not believe this is a change election. However, if I am mistaken then voters would want to be looking at the alternatives to discern if the alternatives represent the change they want. The debates are usually when they begin that process but if the debates do not allow them to do so because they were unwatchable then many of these voters will default to the "devil you know".
I know why the moderators did what they did yesterday. Erin O'Toole screwed up both French debates in a big way, so the moderators for the English debates decided to shield him this time, to prevent any big screw-up by him. The problem with that approach is it also prevented him from presenting a viable alternative to the Liberals.
Justin Trudeau is trying to convince Canadians to give him another shot. Erin O'Toole is trying to convince Canadians to so the opposite. As voters generally do not vote for change Justin Trudeau has the easier task. All he had to do yesterday was end the evening without a major misstep while Erin O'Toole needed to impress enough people to have them consider voting for the Conservatives. Mr. Trudeau succeeded in his goal last night. I am not certain that Erin O'Toole succeeded in his.
2 comments:
Some people have been saying that the English debate's impact might be lessened because of the wildcard factor of low viewership ratings. I'm not sure if this is "copium" from Liberals downplaying concerns over the narrative that Trudeau did poorly (or was sabotaged by the moderators and format). But I suppose there's a nonzero possibility that the sports broadcasts airing at the same time as the debate took precedence for "average" viewers. There was a tennis championship, the Blue Jays are soaring and swept the Yankees, and the NFL season opener with Tom Brady. So I wonder if you think that might have blunted any impact this rigged debate might have otherwise had on Trudeau? I mean I guess we won't really know until more polls show up but at least it's a theory that exists.
Also: Apparently the unexpected wild card from that debate is happening in Quebec where Blanchet has become a "martyr" due to the aggressive moderator's (perceived?) attitudes toward the Bloc that have been extrapolated as an attack on Quebec identity.
Seems that sports weren't as important in QC and that shielding O'Toole while leaving Trudeau a deer (moose?) in the headlights wasn't the only hit job she was hired to do. She might have delivered QC to the Bloc after Blanchet himself bombed in both the French debates. Which only helps Tool by default and hurts the cause of Canada by strengthening the Bloc, Legault, and separatism down the road.
Again, we won't know for certain until more polls come in but some of them are hinting at early returns that don't bode well for the Liberals, not so much due to anything pertaining to O'Toole per se, but the sleeper issue that English Canada always tends to ignore: Quebec's movement en masse and the relative strength of the Bloc.
Post a Comment