![](\"http:\/\/i.telegraph.co.uk\/telegraph\/multimedia\/archive\/01617\/leaders-composite-_1617284c.jpg\")
So, we\u2019ve had a whole weekend to digest and reflect on the first political parties leaders debate held last Thursday, and you know what, I\u2019m worried. But not for the reason you might think.<\/p>\n So, we\u2019ve had a whole weekend to digest and reflect on the first political parties leaders debate held last Thursday, and you know what, I\u2019m worried. But not for the reason you might think.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t believe I\u2019ve ever actually stated my political leanings on this blog, although I\u2019m sure regular readers will have an inkling which side of the divide I fall from the tone of my posts or from reading my tweets (if you follow me on twitter). But regardless, I\u2019m not<\/em> worried because the party I \u2018support\u2019 (and I use that term in the flimsiest sense of the word) came out badly. Frankly, I couldn\u2019t care less who \u2018won\u2019 and \u2018lost\u2019.<\/p>\n No, I\u2019m more worried by the reaction in the media and in the country.<\/p>\n Firstly, the more I hear about and read comment on the debate, the more I think I must have been watching a different broadcast. And secondly, I\u2019m worried that the populace of this country is so fickle, and so feeble minded, that they are willing to change who they plan to vote for on the strength on one television appearance \u2013 especially when there are two more to go.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s deal with the first point, shall we? The problem I have with the media reaction to the debate is probably more a reflection of my current distaste for \u2018old media\u2019 than anything to do with the debate. The media went into the debate looking for a \u2018winner\u2019 \u2013 someone they could proclaim and build up, probably with the intention of knocking them down again later on.<\/p>\n I, on the other hand, went into the debate looking to see if I could be persuaded by the arguments.<\/p>\n The media seemed very excited by one man looking in the camera, putting his hand in his pocket and appearing to be \u2018relaxed\u2019. I, on the other hand, was listening to what they said rather than how they said it. I think all three leaders made some good points but the two who I wasn\u2019t inclined to vote for before the debate, didn\u2019t say anything during it that changed my mind.<\/p>\n It was an interesting debate, but honestly, I don\u2019t think I learned anything from it that I haven\u2019t already learned in the past few months.<\/p>\n Which is where my second worry comes in. Apparently, (if you believe the media)\u00a0 a huge portion of the population was so impressed with this \u2018Clegg bloke\u2019, who they had never seen or heard from before, they they are now willing to vote for him.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s just break that down, shall we? Firstly, Nick Clegg has been leader of the LibDems for some time now \u2013 how can you not know who he is? Do you really take that<\/em> little notice of what\u2019s going on in the country? And secondly, you\u2019re really willing to vote for someone because he smiled a lot and remembered people\u2019s names? Seriously?<\/p>\n Lord help us.<\/p>\n And it gets worse. I read an article online yesterday (sorry, can\u2019t remember where and I\u2019m at work not on my home PC so can\u2019t look in my history) that claimed that most of those people who have \u2018changed\u2019 their vote to the LibDems after the debate, don\u2019t actually agree with the party\u2019s policies when told what they are.<\/p>\n Seriously?<\/p>\n Lord help us.<\/p>\n And we\u2019ve got two debates to go. So does this mean that if Cameron \u2018wins\u2019 the next one, all those fickle voters will change their minds again? Or if Brown gets a haircut and learns how to smile without looking like he\u2019s about to eat your children, will people suddenly want to vote for him instead?<\/p>\n The problem, it seems to me, comes back to the media and their \u2018need\u2019 to wrap up complex issues in a three minute report and some fancy on-screen graphics. It\u2019s been said that we as a people have developed a short attention span and can\u2019t cope with in-depth analysis. Who\u2019s fault do you think that is? Jeremy Kyle\u2019s?<\/p>\n You know, I\u2019m beginning to hope beyond hope that whatever the result of the election on May 6th, it\u2019s the exact opposite of what the media predicts. Maybe then they\u2019ll learn. But I doubt it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So, we\u2019ve had a whole weekend to digest and reflect on the first political parties leaders debate held last Thursday, and you know what, I\u2019m worried. But not for the reason you might think. I don\u2019t believe I\u2019ve ever actually stated my political leanings on this blog, although I\u2019m sure regular readers will have an inkling which side of the divide I fall from the tone of my posts or from reading my tweets (if you follow me on twitter). But regardless, I\u2019m not worried because the party I \u2018support\u2019 (and I use that term in the flimsiest sense of the word) came out badly. Frankly, I couldn\u2019t care less who \u2018won\u2019 and \u2018lost\u2019. No, I\u2019m more worried by the reaction in the media and in the country. Firstly, the more I hear about and read comment on the debate, the more I think I must have been watching a different broadcast. And secondly, I\u2019m worried that the populace of this country is so fickle, and so feeble minded, that they are willing to change who they plan to vote for on the strength on one television appearance \u2013 especially when there are two more to go. Let\u2019s deal with the first point, shall we? The problem I have with the media reaction to the debate is probably more a reflection of my current distaste for \u2018old media\u2019 than anything to do with the debate. The media went into the debate looking for a \u2018winner\u2019 \u2013 someone they could proclaim and build up, probably with the intention of knocking them down again later on. I, on the other hand, went into the debate looking to see if I could be persuaded by the arguments. The media seemed very excited by one man looking in the camera, putting his hand in his pocket and appearing to be \u2018relaxed\u2019. I, on the other hand, was listening to what they said rather than how they said it. I think all three leaders made some good points but the two who I wasn\u2019t inclined to vote for before the debate, didn\u2019t say anything during it that changed my mind. It was an interesting debate, but honestly, I don\u2019t think I learned anything from it that I haven\u2019t already learned in the past few months. Which is where my second worry comes in. Apparently, (if you believe the media)\u00a0 a huge portion of the population was so impressed with this \u2018Clegg bloke\u2019, who they had never seen or heard from before, they they are now willing to vote for him. Let\u2019s just break that down, shall we? Firstly, Nick Clegg has been leader of the LibDems for some time now \u2013 how can you not know who he is? Do you really take that little notice of what\u2019s going on in the country? And secondly, you\u2019re really willing to vote for someone because he smiled a lot and remembered people\u2019s names? Seriously? Lord help us. And it gets worse. I read an article online yesterday (sorry, can\u2019t remember where and I\u2019m at work not on my home PC so can\u2019t look in my history) that claimed that most of those people who have \u2018changed\u2019 their vote to the LibDems after the debate, don\u2019t actually agree with the party\u2019s policies when told what they are. Seriously? Lord help us. And we\u2019ve got two debates to go. So does this mean that if Cameron \u2018wins\u2019 the next one, all those fickle voters will change their minds again? Or if Brown gets a haircut and learns how to smile without looking like he\u2019s about to eat your children, will people suddenly want to vote for him instead? The problem, it seems to me, comes back to the media and their \u2018need\u2019 to wrap up complex issues in a three minute report and some fancy on-screen graphics. It\u2019s been said that we as a people have developed a short attention span and can\u2019t cope with in-depth analysis. Who\u2019s fault do you think that is? Jeremy Kyle\u2019s? You know, I\u2019m beginning to hope beyond hope that whatever the result of the election on May 6th, it\u2019s the exact opposite of what the media predicts. Maybe then they\u2019ll learn. But I doubt it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":225744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"templates\/template-full-width.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/225744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcnobbs.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}