The dissection of last Thursday night’s leader’s debate seemed to hold some consensus on one point – Alberta’s NDP leader Rachel Notley won handily.
With her cool but pointed rebuttals to a sweaty and plainly defensive Premier Jim Prentice, Notley was collected and reassured, but never rude, and also shone over Wildrose’s Brian (one-note) Jean, who managed to parrot the Wildrose line about not raising taxes in every other sentence, and the wooden performance of klutzy Alberta Liberal leader David Swann.
Even former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith tweeted she believed Notley carried the day, some praise from someone diametrically opposed to Notley on the political spectrum.
Prentice, for his part, was in the hot seat, as he was the one that had to deal with attacks on all sides about government action or inaction, and cuts to education and health spending. And while Prentice managed to hold his own for most of the debate, in some cases, he was his own worst enemy, particularly with his condescending “math is difficult” comment to Notley on the subject of corporate tax increases, when it was him in fact that misspoke on the NDP’s proposal to raise corporate taxes from 10 to 12 per cent. Sure math is difficult; so is getting your attack points right.
The polls up until Thursday night’s debate had been saying that the NDP, Wildrose and PCs were in a three-way dead heat, but Notley’s performance during the debate definitely grabbed some attention, as did the fact that Prentice turned his back to Jean repeatedly as he directly addressed Notley – or Notchley, as he continually stumbled on her name – instead. There’s no doubting who Prentice is seeing as his main rival, with the NDP seen as being likely to grab more Edmonton - and potentially more Calgary - seats this year.
However, the polls have been decidedly wrong before, when they predicted that Smith - another telegenic, well-spoken, female party leader - would carry her party to victory in the 2012 election.
But no matter what happens on May 5, Notley just proved that Alberta’s NDP is a worthy opponent, capable of forming just as effective an opposition – if not government - to the PCs as the Wildrose before them.
