Sunday, May 31, 2009
“Do you need percentages?”
On the Politics Show European campaign special, the DUP candidate, Diane Dodds, managed to unite all three incumbents, the chairman of the meeting, Jim Fitzpatrick, and the audience.. and all with one letter from Defra..
Pete Baker @ 11:52 AM
Her high-pitched voice goes right through me, I pity oul Nigel having to life with that.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 12:56 PMI never realised she played ma in Give my head peace.
Beyond a joke this woman.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 12:59 PMC’mon, Pete, where’s that Defra letter? :)
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:04 PMI don’t even support her party and I was embarassed for her! Do the DUP really have no better talent than that?
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:06 PMShe was totally out of her depth, DUP members must be cringing! She was by far the worst performer on the panel and even turned the audience against her. Even the most inexperienced politicians know when to shut up
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:16 PMPerformance appalling
not so sure now
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:22 PMAt one point duyring Diane’s rant I am almost certain I heard Bairbre de Brún telling her to stop digging any further, which obviously didn’t help because she kept on a diggin’!
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:24 PMOh dear Diane. I bet she now wishes she’d let Fitzpatrick move on when he first wanted to.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:25 PMI bet the DUP are hoping that the undecided Unionist voters weren’t watching because Dodds will not have won them over
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:30 PMIt’s a big feat to antagonize almost half the panel and most of the audience over one point.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:30 PMOh dear. People won’t want to vote for a candidate when the audience is applauding the moderator for trying to get her to be quiet.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:37 PMIf this has legs over the next few days, it could be Diane Dodds’ “Cecil Walker Moment”.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:46 PMSammy
As I watched it, Cecil’s Crum performance immediately sprang to mind. Clearly the DUPers will be hoping all non-anoraks were out enjoying the sun today and missed the spectacle.Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:51 PMWatched this ‘debate’ in it’s entirety. Verdict?
Nicholson - a hopeless lightweight displaying slight touches of senility - shocking that this type of old duffer is being seriously considered for important public office.
Dodds - risibly out of her depth with a SERIOUSLY grating voice and manner.
DeBrun - marginally less grating than Dodds but not much better. Marginally less impressive than Nicholson, but again, not by much.
Parsley - stolid school debater style doesn’t help him but a just-about-half-creditable performance nonetheless.
Agnew - similar to Parsley but marginally less impressive (we’re talking in relative terms in respect of all of the above - the general standard of candidate is a truly shocking indictment of northern public life)
Allister - a truly ghastly creature.
[play the ball - edited moderator]
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 01:55 PMNicholson - Never been impressed with him and not a great performance as usual
Dodds - Out of her depth, grating nagging voice and not competent enough to be an MEP in my opinion. Constantly talking on and on and ignoring the Chair was ridicolously stupid of her
DeBrun - Knew her stuff, enjoyed Dodds and Allister knocking the stuffing out of each other and a solid performance
Parsley - Stiff and boring, strange little man
Agnew - Impressed with him given his inexperience, definitely going to get the Greens a few more votes this time around.
Allister - Arrogant man but to be fair seems to know his stuff, was more than fit for Dodds. Seems to be a good MEP although I loathe his politics
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 02:05 PMI don’t understand your criticisms of Agnew and Parsely. Both today showed that they are definitely the future of Northern Ireland politics. I was again impressed with Agnew’s calmness, confidence and frankly political logic. If he was with any other party people would be signing his praises.
I definitely think Alban should have done more! Why ignore him?
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 02:18 PMHa Ha, that was funny!!
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 02:24 PMTUV sitting beside Sinn Fein!!!
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 02:28 PMDisasterous performance from Dodds, cringeworthy at times.
Hadn’t a clue about European issues, the whole flights to Brussels thing, Defra letter etc…
Had the rest of the panel and the whole audience laughing at her at one point.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 02:30 PMI thought the candidates were generally very good, with the exception of Diane Dodds.
Agnew is definitely for me the new talent of this election. Very likeable person, with convictions, and intelligence, the sort of politician people like. Has been great for the Greens and his candidature will serve them well when he stands as MLA (which he declared was an ambition). My favourite of all the candidates - a confident and mature performance and a great asset to the Greens. (Even had Jim Allister clapping at his call for Lisbon referendum).
Parsley did well, though the message got a little sidelined. His point about the rabble of orange and green, then excluding Stephen Agnew, was rather funny and made his line the more memorable. He also made a good point after Diane Dodds had claimed a lot of DUP achievements that were really down to Trimble, Hume, etc. I think he is a very good candidate.
Allister is clearly a good debater and its hard not to admire his taking on the DUP all on his own. He is a smart guy and adds some edge to things, loves to be confrontational. I like that even though I am not politically with him. I can see why he is going to defy the early predictions - he taps into the anger with politicians.
De Brun was good and rose in my opinion managed to come across as somewhat above the squabble, though she didn’t get that much airtime.
Nicholson came across as the most moderate and least dogmatic of the unionist candidates, able to work with both the MEPs. I warmed to him in this debate. It is not quite clear what he stands for but he does seem a decent sort.
Alban didn’t really shine for me this time though I do like him.
Dodds laid traps for herself by taking on the chair too much. I am not sure what all that DEFRA stuff was about. Sometimes I like the plucky little woman aspect but she really overdid it and she let herself down. She has a hard task because the expenses, double jobbing, and unhappiness with the executive does tend to make her case hard.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 02:46 PMcomplete shambles, shows that the Dodds name won’t carry a candidate. I’m hoping this will help kill giving seats to family members.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 03:00 PMYe Gods!! That was unbelieveable! Look at the Green candidate at the end of the table in the up the table shots after 0:50 and 1:00, he almost looks just like one of the Roman Legionnaires from the Biggus Dickkus scene in the Life of Brian! He wants to burst out laughing but he can’t!
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 03:07 PMI have never seen much of Dodds before this, but I have to say she comes across as incredibly snide and massively irritating.
Also, Jim Fitzpatrick was a pathetic chair, he had no authority and should have told her and Allister to shut up several times. Dismal stuff Jim.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 03:20 PMInteresting debate. Just watched it on BBC iPlayer
Allister - knowledgeable, on the ball and obviously enjoys debating. I still think we need his legal brain in Europe - and he is the most competent candidate on the unionist side.
de Brun - actually warmed a little to her despite the whole nationalist/SF agenda. Articulate.
Dodds - awful. She was in teacher mode and trying to talk over everyone. Embarrassing - such a disappointing performance. Unionist voters are even more likely to stay at home!
Maginnis - was hoping for more from him. A little dull. Im guessing we only got to see the edited version.
Nicholson - seemed to have little to say, although he did spring to life when Dodds brought up defra. Otherwise disappointing and appeared a little jaded.
Agnew - okay performance esp as he is an unknown candidate - with the concern everyone has about the environment he could have shone today. Will certainly transfer to him though.
Parsley - he wasn’t bad. Seems to be competent, should def should pick up votes and transfers.Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 03:25 PMI actually thought Parsley’s performance was the right approach to what was a complete shambles of a debate, just because de Brun sat there with a Gordon Brown-esque faux smile on her face throughout doesn’t mean she won’t get tarnished with those at that table. She didn’t really say anything worth thinking about.
The Green’s candidate was good only because it is his first runout, but to me it was a classic example of: “yousens are all nuts”.
Jim Allister is a complete weapon for anti-DUP rhetoric, complete good value for money, well worth having about, if not in Europe then as an MLA.
My potential votes will be based on that performance:
1 Parsley
2 Maginness
3 Jim Allister - Seriously you’ve just got to have him!If Jim Allister provides better entertainment than this his position could change depending on further such TV performances, but Diane Dodds is required me thinks for Allister comedy value to work well. Brilliant comedy. This was a sit-down stand up performance, if you know what i mena.
Posted by on May 31, 2009 @ 03:33 PM
