TV3 Debate

[Spudulika]

Didn't see the debate last night, though have been listening to the reaction and snippets from RTE and from the papers (online) Gilmore was hammered, and not in the good Biffo sense. And then an unemployed roadsweeper with a sick father who needs medical attention and a sister emigrating to Hungary, with an accent more suited to a, well, you can hear it for yourself, and he went from 0-100 in seconds. I hope he got a nice greeting from the locals afterwards. Great craic altogether.

[Real ale Madrid]

So, what was people's opinion on last night's debate? I think these things are important because lots of people will tune in and a lot people will form opinion's based on what they see.

Personally I think Martin shaded the debate as he seems a more experienced public speaker, but FF have a huge credibility problem, so I don't think it will make that much of an impact. I think that Gilmore could have mentioned that credibility issue more as well.
I thought Martin was more aggressive but then again he was the one who needed to be.
Gilmore needs to improve on how he communicates specific policies, I think he needs to improve on this in future debates.
I thought Gilmore played it safe by and large - I think he knew that unless he made a major c**k up it probably wouldn't affect voters too much.

VB did a decent job I thought - gave Martin more time early on and perhaps wasn't authorative enough. God knows he had to bit his lip at times

Enda should have showed up. Some "Leader" we are going to have.

Anyone else see anything major ?

[Billsthoughts]

I thought Martin won. As you said Gilmore should have been hammering him all nite long. This is Fianna Fail after all. He seemed to go on the defensive when he should have been pointing out the mistakes FF have made. Think it might drag a few more FFers out to vote. Gilmore had no answer to Martins assertion that Gilmore wouldnt reverse any of the cuts FF made. He should have said they would even just to take the sting out of Martins point. Cant beleive Martin is using that "punch and judy" line still tho. he must have used it all week. Thought Gilmores qouting of the days was a bit sad as well. He even seemed not to score points on health which should have been an open goal.

[Spudulika]

I'm beginning to wonder if the constant line from Martin (brought up twice I think last night) about parties at war in coalition, is starting to get into the public consciousness. VB seemed quite restrained (from what I saw) though would he have been so good if EK was on? It's a strange election with FF playing the amnesia game.

[dahamsta]

I thought VB was asleep at the start. He's a terrible moderator, no control whatsoever. If those idiots were acting like that in front of me, I'd've cut the mikes off them. Literally.

[John83]

I thought VB was asleep at the start. He's a terrible moderator, no control whatsoever. If those idiots were acting like that in front of me, I'd've cut the mikes off them. Literally.

Literally.

[Billsthoughts]

Why No trousers?

[dahamsta]

I never wear trousers. Just a cummerbund.

[mypost]

I'm beginning to wonder if the constant line from Martin (brought up twice I think last night) about parties at war in coalition, is starting to get into the public consciousness.

It is normal for different parties to have different policies, and in 4 weeks time, we'll get a coalition of compromise policies, as FF have had with their partners since 1989.

Martin won the debate as you would expect, he called for the debates in the first place, and he can run rings around his rivals, interrupt them, snap at them, shout them down, and he specialises in that environment. It doesn't mean FF's policies are any better. Gilmore showed that he struggles to say anything of substance unless it's a 30-second soundbite on RTE. At times he was left open-mouthed while Martin tore into him. Even his "bank guarantee" trump card didn't work.

As for Kenny, I back his decision not to take part, and take a stand against VB's comments, despite the apology the comments were disgraceful imo, and tv presenters in England have been sacked lately for far less harmful comments.

[Macy]

Didn't think there was a whole lot in - debates all about expectations, Gilmore was expected to be brilliant and didn't live up to it, Martin was expected to be hammered on his record and wasn't, therefore the consensus is a Martin win. This is where Kenny could do alright - everyone's expecting him to be crap, so a reasonable performance will be seen as a win.

Ultimately, this is just the warm up anyway, not that I think it really influences things that much anyway.