Two surprises of the French debate
For those who have watched the French debate, what do you think?
I have two surprises.
First, I was surprised at Stephen Harper being on the defensive ALL the time on ALL FRONTS. I did not hear anything new from him other than the same old “we-are-the-only-party-that-can…..” (fill in the blank) statement. I was also surprised when he reiterated the “gala” theory about artists after a bruising week defending his party on cuts to arts and culture funding.
His smile was rigid, as if he had used some glue. He looked down all the time, as if he was avoiding to talk to Canadians. He looked defeated. In all, it wasn’t the fighter Stephen Harper we’ve come to know of. It was like he wasn’t there.
The second surprise is Dion. He was composed, confident and assertive. Just like Harper, it wasn’t the Stephane Dion we’ve come to know of. He managed to make his messages out. There were a few sound bites that are easy to remember (for example “You are the risk”). It almost has the audience to agree with him that the real Dion would be on display on these debates, when stripping off negative attacks by the Tories.
Gilles Duceppe made a good point when he rebuffed Harper’s countering the issue of green house emissions that under the Liberals, Canada’s green house output surged 30%. Duceppe literally punched Harper at his face when he reminded Harper that he was fiercefully against the Liberal plan at the time as the leader of the opposition. Duceppe said “you were against it (aggressive green house emission cutting plan) then and you’re against it now.” Harper was speechless. I think that’s the punch line of the night. Duceppe proved himself to be the best debater.
And I like Elizabeth May. She was the luckiest one on the table because she was able to talk/criticize most freely given she had no strings attached to her. I look forward to seeing a more active her in the English debate.
BTW, I think Harper has put on too much makeup :P
