Fall out from the Debate:

How the Media Bias Affects the Opinions of BC

CBC News, (May 3 2005). Campbell's credibility questioned
during debate.

CKNW, (May, 04 2005). Leadership debate leads to mixed reactions.

Help CKNW out with their poll, if you can believe it Gordon Campbell
& Adrienne Carr are ahead of Carole James and that is just ridiculous
if one looks objectively at the performance of each leader in the debate.
The question is:
"Who do you think won the leadership debate on Tuesday night?"

To have your say, please visit CKNW today:

Liberals version: 2005 Leader's Debate

From the NDP: And media commentators agree:
"From the first mini-debate on the economy to the
closing battle on leadership, James hammered on
Campbell like a second-hand bongo drum and I
thought she got the better of him in most of the
exchanges … In my view, Carole James easily
won last night's debate"
(Michael Smyth, Vancouver Province)

"James scores in debate" (headline, Victoria-Times Colonist)

"NDP Leader walks tall" (headline, Vancouver Province)

"Rookie James shows poise" (headline, The Globe and Mail)

"A poll conducted by Ipsos-Reid immediately following the
debate indicated that 31 per cent thought James won the
debate compared with 23 per cent for Campbell and
12 per cent for Carr" (Vancouver Sun).

"I thought the premier was very defensive. (NDP Leader)
Carole James really plugged into what became the
underlying theme of the evening, the issue of trust"
(political commentator Norman Ruff, quoted in Canadian
Press).

"Campbell not so good. The Premier was put on the
defensive early on and seemed unable to break out of
that" (Ruff on Gordon Campbell, quoted in The Globe
and Mail).

"The bad news for Campbell is that Carole James
clearly established herself as a credible leader”
(Kyle Braid, Ipsos-Reid).

"Ms. James acquitted herself well, hammering away
at the past four years of Mr. Campbell's government
and putting the Liberal Leader on the defensive for
much of the hour"
(Rod Mickleburgh, The Globe and Mail).

"[Carole James] grabbed every advantage she could
to cement the impression of a poised, articulate leader
who knows what's going on and is very familiar with
the government's weaknesses... She emerged from the
hour-long joust looking like a very competent leader.
She skated a few rings around the premier"
(Les Leyne, Victoria-Times Colonist).

"[Gordon Campbell] didn't really come up with a
coherent, comprehensive explanation of the fall downs
his government sustained"
(Les Leyne, Victoria-Times Colonist).

"It wasn't a great performance from Campbell, who
seemed the most tense of the three for much of the time."
(Paul Willcocks, Vancouver Sun).

"Adriane Carr, like the Green party in most political
situations, struggled to be a presence"
(Paul Willcocks, Vancouver Sun).

"The debate gave the biggest boost to the campaign of
NDP leader Carole James, who highlighted weak areas
of the Liberal record and scored points in arguing the
NDP would do a better job in managing health and education"
(Paul Willcocks, Vancouver Sun).

"On balance, I think Carole James was the overall winner. ...
She was extremely well-informed, her confidence was
obvious and she looked leader-like, she looked premier-like"
(Former Liberal Leader Gordon Wilson, quoted in
Victoria Times-Colonist).