Debating greatness

I made myself sit through the great debate between John Howard and Kevin Rudd on Sunday night. Actually, it wasn't that hard in the end. I thought it was quite an impressive performance, and all the associated drama over the worm on channel 9 was even more entertaining than the debate itself.


Anyway, it was obviously Kevin Rudds night. I was quite impressed by what I saw of him in this debate. He doesn't always come across well in the 30-second soundbites used on the evening news, but this format suited him. He was able to make his points, clearly and with conviction. Before the debate I was hoping he would win the election basically because he wasn't John Howard. Now I'm much more confident that he can really run the government and be an effective leader.

John Howard, on the other hand, was pretty bad. He is not a good debater - he may be a clever politician but public speaking really isn't his strong point. He looked tired, old and angry. He almost lost his temper a couple of times. It was a really bad look. And to top it all off, even when he was speaking with conviction he wasn't convincing. On his strong points of the economy, I'd heard it all before. His attacks on unions were nothing new and just fell pretty flat. If you weren't convinced by his rhetoric before the debate, nothing he said would change your mind.

Even when he was talking about his new policies on climate change and reconciliation he was not believable. His main problem here is that after 11 years most people know that he really doesn't believe in them as issues. At one point he accused Kevin Rudd of having an election campaign conversion to economic conservatism. I almost laughed at that, since that charge is much more likely to stick to him because of his new position on Aboriginal affairs and climate change. Less than convincing stuff.

So, Kevin won the night. Convincingly. But it's still a long way to election day, and John Howard is a tricky and clever campaigner. And its a huge job for Labor to win the 16 seats it needs. Here's hoping they can do it!