Is the Brown/Cameron/Clegg debate a good idea-Or a chance for style to triumph over substance?

[Captain Hilts]

They have question period that covers the substance, does this add all that much?

[Ebadlun]

1. I think it went pretty well

The problem is not in this debate, it's in the incredibly narrow focus of UK discourse. We do not have your culture wars, everyone is agreed that state-provided services must be maintained as far as possible, whilst acknowledging the need to cut the deficit.

More interesting questions are left unasked - house prices are crazy, the drugs war is crazy, the first-past-the-post electoral system is blatantly insane. The leaders are arguing about who is best able to manage a particular system, nobody is proposing to upgrade or replace that system.

[smalll]

2. Interestingly, all the post-debate polls gave the win to the Lib Dem --

with Cameron far behind, just ahead of Brown.

It was very American. How did they get them all to agree to wear the proper tie, color-wise? Cameron in blue, Clegg in yellow, and Brown in pink -- (rather than red, "Red Flag Over Martyr Dead" is a little old hat at this point.)