Democracy television: who will win the leaders’ debates?

By Alex Smith / @alexsmith1982

I’m looking forward to the TV debates between the three main party leaders immensely. Although we still don’t know the dates on which they’ll take place, they are likely to be in April and will define the short campaign as the battle buses have in the past.

During the 2008 Presidential campaign in the US, the debates were a real highlight: everyone was talking about John McCain’s jibe of Barack Obama as “that one” and about Obama’s cool Presidential style. People held parties to watch the debates and share the experience – and discussed for days after what had been said. That can only be good for democracy.

David Cameron’s polished style will, in my view, be the most suited to the format and I don’t doubt that he will “win” the debates. But, as Michael White writes, Gordon Brown shouldn’t be written off. He is substantive and policy-focussed, and will have expert advice rom Alastair Campbell and others on some memorable one liners. Beware the class warfare techniques, however.

Bear in mind, too, how people might react to a potential “ganging up” on the PM by Nick Clegg and David Cameron. The public didn’t like that when it happened to Nick Griffin, even, and the relentless mocking of the PM over the Jacqui Janes letter led to people rallying around the PM more than at any other time this year.