Christian Conservative Christian "Independent"

I'm an evangelical Christian, member of the CPC, but presently & unjustly exiled to wander the political wilderness.
All opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Friday, October 03, 2008

Layton scores the "KO" punch in English debate

I'll post more thoughts on the debate later today, but I have to admit it, hands down, it was the NDP's Jack Layton who had the "clip of the night", with this devestating shot at Liberal leader Stephane Dion...



h/t to Splatto for the clip
Also posted over on Janke's blog

And yes, I'll confess... I was in a room of about twenty Tories, who all erupted in unison at that clip. And again when it got played in the post-game analysis on MDL.

Ten years from now, this will be the only clip anyone remembers... just you wait and see.

I think Layton, followed closely by Harper, won the debate last night. Any Liberals who try to claim their guy did are, quite frankly, delusional.

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8 Comments:

  • At Fri Oct 03, 10:13:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Unknown said…

    I'll agree, Layton had the quote of the night, but I thought it was his shot at Harper, "You either don't care, or you're incompetent."

    All he left off was, "or both."

     
  • At Fri Oct 03, 10:56:00 a.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think with this type of debate it's difficult to say who wins outright. They tend to be shouting matches and 'pile-on' contests.

    For Harper, it would be difficult to come out the outright winner because he has the task of having to defend against 4 others trying to pile-on him. He did extremely well handling himself, and looked very patient and showed poise. That makes him a winner.

    Layton did very well establishing himself as a strong alternate to Dion and the Liberal Party, and that a vote for the NDP is not wasted if it doesn't stop 'Harper'. His line in the clip really puts Dion in his place. So in that sense he is a winner because he comes out way ahead of Dion vying for the Opposition leader.

    The real outcome is that Dion is the big loser because he couldn't establish himself as something different that what is perceived of him.

    May and Duceppe are really non-factors in a federal debate because they really just reinforce things for people that would probably already vote for them.

     
  • At Fri Oct 03, 11:39:00 a.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I am sure you and all your Tory friends applauded for the same reason I did. Not because we fear Jack, but because we know he is helping splinter the Left.
    Mr. Dion looked pathetic. I actually felt some compassion for him. But then I remembered his rudeness and lies directed towards Mr. Harper and laughed.

     
  • At Fri Oct 03, 11:41:00 a.m. EDT, Blogger Luke Coughey said…

    I honestly didn't get to see much of the debate. But I did get to see Mr. Duceppe inform the other party leaders that none of them have a chance to be PM, except Harper.

    I agree with Duceppe's "Buy Canada" idea and I'm baffled why it even needs to be discussed. I think it would be honorable for the Conservatives to add the "Buy Canada" platform to their compaign.

     
  • At Fri Oct 03, 01:04:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Everyone keeps scoring the debate without understanding that alot of Canadians are just starting to take notice that normally wouldnt.
    My wife has never voted. She's a brilliant woman and one of only 5 in her field in Canada..but never voted. We watched the debate last night together..her first debate.
    Here's her scorecard: 1st: Elizabeth May...a little kooky but very bright...cant argue that.
    2nd: Gilles Duceppe..she thought he'd just come from a bar as a fill in and was funny. 3rd: Harper...why'd they pick on him so much? 4th: Dion..."oh my god...why would his friends let him take that job. 5th: Layton..he's a jerk! There you have it. We pick winners based on what we know "of" them...she was unbiased and pretty spot on!
    billg

     
  • At Fri Oct 03, 01:44:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Thanks for the post

    I was curious to see what "CC"'s thoughts would be.

    Now that you've shared your's. Here's mine

    As far as ranking goes, I would say
    1. Jack Layton
    2. Stephen Harper
    3. Elizabeth May
    4. Stephane Dion
    5. Gilles Duceppe

    I didn't think there was a "Knock-out" Punch. But then again, I consider a KO-punch to be a line that's referenced in future elections ("You had a choice, and you made the wrong one" or the classic "You sir are no John Kennedy") But that's just semantics.

    The line you showed was very good. The line Marc Bernard likes was very good. My personal favourite from last night, though, was when Jack spoke to the NDP's economic position.

    By referencing Tommy Douglas's 17 balanced budgets AND taking a dig at Bob Rae and the Liberals, I just think that worked on so many levels. Me and my NDP-supporting step-dad who were watching just were like "Snap, Burn!"

    There was another by Dion that I think was a high-quality line but got lost in translation. He spoke about "Taking back our Canada". Honestly, I think with the right delivery that line can be a killer line, especially for Liberals under a minority Conservative gov't. With Dion, though, I didn't feel the inspiration I know he was going for. I know he was going for it, because you could just tell he was fighting for his political life.

    I think May held her own. She wasn't the life of the party, but I think she earned her right to be there.

    Harper did well. I think he stayed calm and collected. It's also apparent he stands apart from the other 4 (Note I said apart, not above), especially on policy. His admission Iraq is a mistake is HUGE. I think it's the double-edged sword of saying what Canadians want to hear, but at the same time will he risk any of his hawk-ish base? The few Canadians who DO want us in Iraq. That certainly piqued my interest. What I didn't like about Harper, and this is just me speaking now, was that cheshire cat-grin with the "I'll stare a hole through you" eyes. There was just something about his thin-grin that made he think he was more amused at the opposition than he was taking them seriously.

    I read his grinning at Liz May to say "Aaaaw, how cute, the lil' green party with it's lil policy, isn't that adorable!(sarcasm)"

    I would have preferred a more interested-in-what-others-were-saying-look. Even if he only paid attention just so he could prepare his counter, the "look" would still have been more professional.

    Finally, Gilles Duceppe just made me ask "Why do I care?"

    And that's my... actually, I lost track of how many cents I shared there. I hope I didn't break the bank!

    Mike Wisniewski

     
  • At Fri Oct 03, 02:30:00 p.m. EDT, Blogger Christian Conservative said…

    Nope, didn't break the bank on that one Mike... may have even earned some interest, that's the kind of discussion I like to foster. ;-)

    Have another cookie.

     
  • At Fri Oct 03, 03:25:00 p.m. EDT, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Last night was the leaders' night.

    Today is for you, me, and rest of us Karl-Rove-wannabes to spin what we saw.

    Am I right or am I right?

    Mike Wisniewski

     

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