Second TV Election Debate

After last night’s second TV Election Debate the polls are undecided about who won. The instant opinion polls that were taken straight after the broadcast were unclear. Two polls showed that David Cameron was the winner, while three others said that it was Nick Clegg. So, as many are saying, it was a “score draw” which still leaves the election result wide open. But, they all show that last night the margin between the three party leaders was much closer than it had been after the first debate, with each hovering around the 30% mark. However, less than half the average amount of people watched it as the total audience was just 4 million, whereas the first debate attracted 9.4 million viewers.

Both Cameron and Brown raised their game, and used the tricks that Clegg had previously used, e.g. looking straight into the camera lens, and calling the questioners by name. This time Brown gave far fewer facts and figures and his answers were easier to grasp. He smiled more, and seemed more engaged with the other two than he had last time, as did Cameron. Cameron almost lost his temper at one point, and both of them rounded on Clegg for some of his policies. But Clegg kept his cool, gave good answers, and came still across as a human being, even though we all know he’s a politician. Naturally, they all once again tried to turn the questions back to what they each wanted to say rather than answer the questions. One thing that I found telling was when Clegg pointed out that Cameron’s Conservative Party had a coalition in the European Parliament with a party that was Nazi-like in its beliefs, i.e. it was homophobic, denied climate change, etc: Cameron most certainly didn’t mention it in any of his replies. That came across as it being true, which it is, and he simply couldn’t mention it; he certainly wasn’t able to deny it!

On the whole, the debate was less interesting than the previous one. And the reason for that was the bickering that went on, plus the fact that Clegg was no longer the “new” boy on the block. There is one more televised debate before the electorate go to vote, and that one will focus on the economy. It could be even less interesting than this one was, but I shall watch it and report back afterwards.

Meanwhile, the recriminations grow over the airline costs during the air space lock-down that was caused by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud. At least people are starting to arrive back in the UK again, and most flights are back to normal. However, if Katla blows this will just have been a sideshow, a minor inconvenience, compared with what could happen!