7 tips for Gordon for a successful debate season

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Brown TV

The Paul Richards Column

The sun is shining over Westminster this afternoon. On College and Abingdon Greens the broadcasters are building their podiums, like the men erecting the scaffold ahead of an execution. On Tuesday, Gordon Brown has an important diary appointment with the Queen. Unless a political leader decides to punch someone again, the high point of the general election called next week will be the television debates. There is a possibility that the impact of the debates will reach beyond the politico-media nexus. They will not determine the result, or even many votes, but they will shape and inform the campaign.

What should Labour’s tactics be? Here are seven habits of successful TV debaters:

1 – It’s all about the emotion.

The lesson from Ask The Chancellors is that it’s not just about winning the argument, but also winning over the audience. Vince Cable won the battle for laughs and applause. He had some good one-liners and vivid phrases. Gordon Brown, as an ultra-rationalist, will want to win the argument by use of facts and stats. Cameron will want to win the audience by emoting and connecting. Brown must be persuaded to appeal to the voters’ hearts as well as their heads. He must avoid lists, and numbers. He must use anecdotes and draw on his own experiences.

2 – Appearance will count.

Famously, JFK won the 1960 debates with the TV audience, but not the radio one. Brown should get a good night’s sleep before the debate (maybe even a whole four hours). Sarah should pick out a nice purple tie. People will judge the leaders on what they look like, not least because most of the viewers will dip in and out, or see the clips on the news or YouTube. Few of us will suffer the full 90 minutes.

3 – The Clegg issue.

Vince Cable got away with murder because no-one challenged him. If Labour wants to win over Lib Dem voters, Brown will need to reach out to them in the debates. Labour’s team will need to decide whether to love-bomb Clegg, or carpet bomb him. Ignoring him, and allowing him free rein, would be a mistake.

4 – Keep calm and carry on.

Cameron will want to goad Brown into a “step outside, posh boy” moment. Brown must remain emollient and calm, addressing the audience at home, not the Old Etonian to his right.

5 – Labour must win the spin.

The spin room (and Twitterverse) will be filled with over-excited apparatchiks saying their man won. But they would say that, wouldn’t they. Far better will be some respected, and maybe counter-intuitive voices giving a fair-minded assessment. Step forward Andrew Rawnsley, Alistair Campbell – and, of course, Tony Blair.

6 – Expectations, expectations, expectations.

George Osborne sort of triumphed in Ask The Chancellors by not being a total disaster. You’ve seen the episode of the West Wing where Leo deliberately down-plays his own debating prowess ahead of a big debate, to win the expectation battle. We need to do the opposite. We need to talk up Cameron’s debating skills. By the time the programme is aired, people should be expecting a cross between Churchill and Cicero. When all they get is Cameron with a few scripted gags and applause lines, he will have dashed their (falsely inflated) expectations.

7 – It’s only a debate, dear.

The media will attempt to make these debates the centre piece of the campaign. But they’re not. So Labour must not allow time and energy to be sapped from the real campaign by the TV debates. They deserve attention, but let’s keep it in perspective. It’s only TV.

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