A good debate

I enjoyed the debate last night. There were far fewer interjections than previous debates, and no impugning of motives.

Former Labour leaders could learn a lot from Jacinda in terms of the benefits of reasonableness. She thanked the Government for thr briefing on Afghanistan, praised Chris Finlaysons’ record on Treaty settlements and said she agreed that our economy is one of the better ones in the world. Jacinda is likeable, and showed it in the debate by not trying to be a hyper-agressive debater.

I thought Bill did well, especially in the wake of an unpleasant poll result. He used his knowledge well and kept up a good focus on people.

Not sure the debate would have changed a lot of votes, but I think both leaders did well. They both got some good attacks over the line, but also showed some weaknesses – Jacinda in terms of policy detail and Bill in terms of having to defend the status quo.

Those who demanded Mike Hosking be removed as moderator should be embarrassed. I doubt anyone could claim he was biased, or went easy on English. To the contrary, he was very firm and assertive with both leaders.