Dirigibles Are Coming Back!
November 22nd, 2006 by PotatoI caught the all candidate’s debate on the Rogers community station on tape last night, and it was some good watching. Not so much for the political stuff (though my favourite candidate did do fairly well), nor for the fantastic local media camera work (pan over to the next candidate… ah! too far!… back… ok… crap, now the other guy’s talking!), but for the sheer craziness factor. One of the minor party candidates (Canadian Action) seemed to only have enough anti-crazy medicine to make it through 59 minutes of the hour long debate, because he finished off with a pledge to make London a world-class airship terminus. Air ships, as in zeppelins. Dirigibles. The moderator was stunned after he finished, giving him this “what the hell are you talking about?” look, which was a nice change from the soulless robot impartial moderation most other networks/debates aim for. I had to watch that part at least 4 times to make sure I heard it right (and to see that look on the moderator’s face).
The rest of the debate wasn’t particularly special. Dianne Hasket got booed when she said she was the only candidate who lived in the riding (past tense, perhaps, as all reports place her as living in the States for the last 6 years). Most of the candidates had real trouble speaking to the camera or the audience, having to read a lot (which was surprising as with 7 of them up on stage the responses were kept really short, and also gave lots of time for them to check their notes before speaking). Glen Pearson and Elizabeth May were the notable exceptions.