That is the only question that matters tonight.
Nick Clegg did very well. More importantly, Gordon Brown survived. But David Cameron has not put to bed the doubts about his leadership abilities.
No knock out blows. No big gaffes. We move to round 2.
The polls at the weekend will make very interesting reading.
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Did Cameron look like a Prime Minister-in-waiting?
ReplyDeleteTbh non of them did, it was a total waste of time and way too over produced, lacked spontaneity and probably put the UK public even more off politics.
Cameron easily out performed Brown, both on a human level (especially his NHS responses) and on arguing the policy differences. Clegg outperformed both of them.
ReplyDeleteThe problem was we didnt see the Cameron with new ideas. Where did all the Big Society talk go? He let the discussion stay on the issues that Labour and LibDems have been arguing about for months, without using his USP (unique selling point).
This was especially true on education where the Tories have a lot of good ideas. How come Clegg mentioned the Swedish education system but Cameron didnt.
Maybe I was wrong about ignoring the LibDems. They are getting away with their 'have your cake and eat it' strategy. It seemed to me that at every turn Clegg seemed to be promising more spending but still claimed to be the only person being honest about cuts.
What does a PM in waiting look like anyway? I think we want to be inspired. Thatcher inspired us. Blair inspired us. Brown is unabled to do so because of his focus on the negative and dividing lines. Brown has told so many lies that people just do not believe him anymore. Cameron can inspire (and I would argue, did so in the manifesto launch), but is just not consistant.
Still two debates to go, but Cameron definately needs to up his game.