Update to Election Debates - September 10, 2008

There are some fights that are better not won. The media consortium backed down and has invited Green Party leader Elizabeth May to participate in the October 1st and 2nd debates. Gone are the petition drives and court challenge, in its place is pressure on May to perform in the debates. Two hours divided amongst five participants gives an average of just 24 minutes per leader minus the time taken up by the questions. It is hard to make much of an impression with less than 20 minutes of actual air time spread over two hours and shared with four other leaders. May might discover that sometimes it is best not to get what you want.

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September 9, 2008

Election Debates

During his report on the consortium of broadcasters' refusal to allow the Green Party's Elizabeth May to participate in the 2008 Canadian election debates on October 1st and 2nd, Global BC reporter Keith Baldrey assured viewers that the provincial broadcast consortium is different and that it will probably allow Green Party participation in any debate prior to the May 12th provincial election.

There is a perception in BC that when Gordon Wilson was leader of the BC Liberal Party, his clever one-liner during the TV debate made a significant contribution both to his career and to the success of his party in 1991. That may be true, but it is also the case that the Social Credit Party was self-destructing and any voter looking for an alternative to the NDP had few alternatives. The Liberals probably benefited as much from that void as from Wilson's debating skills; nevertheless, free airtime and recognition as a major player is much sought after. Gordon Campbell no doubt wants provincial Green Party leader Jane Sterk to participate in the debates in the hope that she will drain votes away from the NDP. Some New Democrats also want her to participate because of the belief that the more the voters see the particulars of what the Green Party advocates, the less likely they will be to support them.

Harper's Conservatives opposed Elizabeth May's participation in the federal debates, arguing that since she has made a deal with Dion that neither party will run candidates against the other's leader, she is already represented in the debate by Dion. There are many valid reasons why Elizabeth May shouldn't be allowed to participate in the national debates, but that isn't one of them. Harper must believe that May appeals to voters who might otherwise vote for him, otherwise he would be foolish not to encourage exposure for a party that would otherwise only drain support from his opponents. Mr. Harper is many things, but not stupid. His position says a lot about his assessment of the second choice of many potential Green voters.

Elizabeth May might be secretly rejoicing over her rejection as a participant in the debates. She is getting more media coverage out of that decision than she would ever get by way of coverage on her policy positions.

Valid reasons for excluding May from the debates include the confusion that would be created with five leaders involved in the process, as well as the fact that no one has ever been elected as an MP from her party, a record that is unlikely to change. The Greens seem to think that accepting West Vancouver's Blair Wilson into their ranks changes that. He wasn't elected as a Green. He never sat as a Green, having switched sides just days before the election call, and he couldn't get elected as dog catcher in West Vancouver, let alone re-elected as a Green.

The US debates are interesting because they are one-on-one. By comparison, even with four leaders, the Canadian debates look like a brawl as each tries to over-shout the other. Five participants, plus the media panel, would make it even more chaotic. Rather than adding Elizabeth May, the consortium should have eliminated Duceppe from the English language debates. He's not running candidates outside of Quebec, and has no business participating in the debate that is most important to the rest of Canada; however, no one wants to offend Quebec by excluding him. It is a safe bet that more Canadians will be watching the US Vice-Presidential debate on the evening of October 2nd, than will be watching the French language debate, there may even be more Quebecers watching the US debate. It will be exciting, while the four-way exchange on Canadian TV is bound to compete with sleeping pills.