Who won the B.C. leaders’ debate?
Perhaps a better question is who watched the B.C. leaders’ debate?
Hockey, of course, bumped the debate off of a live spot to an after-the-game rerun. A questionable choice given that the Canucks weren’t even on the ice.
But we wonder if it would have mattered to most B.C.ers if the debate was live and there was no hockey diversion. Politics seems to have become a game for pundits, activists, big donors and relatives of all of the above.
And, if the average voter did happen to watch the debate after the hockey game, did it make him or her more cynical about politics, or fire them up?
We suspect the former.
As journalists we are immersed in the political soup, so it’s hard to get a bead on what the average voter sees in a live debate.
Do they see Christy Clark’s paste-on smile and hackneyed question-dodging answers as sticking to her message or politics at its phoniest? Do they see Andrew Weaver’s jibs and jabs at John Horgan as a terrier trying to get in between the pitbull and the Labrador retriever in the local dog park? Do they see Horgan’s ad-nauseam promises on fighting for the little person as just a tired NDP slogan?
Does the average voter make a reasoned choice based on comparing party platforms, or do they vote on gut instinct about which leader they trust? Is it a combination of both?
Media pundits the morning after the debate are saying there were no “knock-out blows,” but Horgan won by landing quite a few hits on Clark. And Weaver at least didn’t hurt the Greens – although his air of superiority didn’t endear him to many viewers.
There were a lot of interesting moments where the differences between the Liberal view and the NDP view were pretty stark.
When Horgan attacked Clark for a government that has had more than its fair share of scandals and corruption, Clark just smiled and said that voters cared about jobs.
If there was an award for the most cynical sidestepping political dance move this year, hers would win hands down.
Do voters really care more about jobs than principles and cronyism?
Given the last three weeks of vote-buying promises, we think Clark sure does. And she could be proven right once again.
