Leaders' Debate #1

[charamei]

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And they say people aren't interested in politics.

Of course all parties are claiming victory*, but the polls - and motorwayman, who is of course deciding the election - generally agree that Nick Clegg won.

*I wouldn't be surprised to hear they wrote their press releases before the broadcast, actually.

Which he did, repeatedly. Not only does he have coherent policies (take that, all LD detractors!) but he can explain them while not mudslinging, engaging his audience (and remembering their names!) and looking relaxed and in control.

Oh, and he managed to mention the positive side of immigration (though I'm not entirely sold on his policy for it), harangue Gordon Brown about the expenses scandal without slipping into dirty laundry mode, and fire off this one:

I don't know if you're like me, but the more they attack each other the more they sound exactly the same.

So the LibDems are two for two in terms of debates. It'll be interesting to see if the general polls reflect this in the coming days.

About the others - eh, not much. Cameron was stiff and uninteresting and managed to get in a reference to his late son, which made him resemble a stuck record even more. Brown showed the benefit of experience, particularly when discussing Afghanistan, but he's not a natural public speaker and, well - why didn't he do all of these things while in power?

I doubt we'll get a landslide LibDem vote - but here's hoping for it to hang. Maybe then our government will finally get something done.

Also, J K Rowling demonstrates that she is full of win.

I want: An 'I agree with Nick' icon. Or a T-shirt.