Reactions to the Debate

 

Watching the English-language debate last night, I thought it was a draw. I thought Poilievre did a fine job, but Carney did not mess up, and I thought seemed likeable. Blanchet was really good; but it didn’t matter, because he was not speaking to his constituency. I thought Jagmeet Singh, with his constant interruptions, was intolerably obnoxious; of no relevance, but preventing viewers from hearing the contenders. It also seemed to me obviously bad strategy for Singh to keep interrupting Poilievre more than Carney, the frontrunner and his obvious competitor for votes. It was almost as if he was there to sabotage his own party. Given how far he was prepared to go against his party’s interests to secure his pension, I do wonder if he has been bought by the Liberals.

Accordingly, I was surprised and pleased to hear the immediate reaction from the CBC At Issue panel, partisan and pro-Liberal. To them, the big story was not the self-immolation of the NDP. It was that Poilievre won the debate, and probably gained ground.

They argue that he came across as reasonable and not scary. Meanwhile, Poilievre and Blanchet heaved some bombshells at him that he did not parry. He simply changed the subject; perhaps leaving them there, unexploded ordinance.

And the truly historic moment may have been when Carney got a free question, and chose to ask Poilievre: Why did he refuse to get security clearance? 

Dumb idea. Surely he should have known Poilievre had a ready answer, that took away this favoured Liberal talking point. And he was giving Poilievre a perfect opportunity to bring up Chinese interference.

Maybe they are right. Maybe Carney lost the election last night.