Douglas Alexander: Substance vs. Style

via email:

Let’s be clear – tonight’s Leaders’ debate on the economy is a huge opportunity to show the country the facts.

Labour has shown that it can manage the economy in good times and in the bad times of the global economic crisis. It was Gordon Brown that had the experience, judgement and substance to lead Britain from recession to recovery. Tonight is our chance to prove it.

So I’m asking you – one more time – to use the Labour Debates Dashboard to share our message with your friends through email, Facebook and Twitter.

Visit the Dashboard now and be the first to see our new Word of Mouth app

You know that Gordon can’t be matched on experience, judgement and substance by either David Cameron or Nick Clegg. And with a record number of undecided voters at this election, we can all make a difference tonight by playing a role in making that point.

To help you, we’ve added a new Word of Mouth app to this week’s Debate Dashboard – allowing you to show your support for Labour right up until polling day.

Visit the Debate Dashboard tonight and make sure everyone knows the important choice facing the country

In this word of mouth election, Labour supporters across the country know that we’ve got a real chance in the debates and in conversations afterwards to make our point – that Britain is on the road to recovery and we cannot let the Tories wreck it.

Visit the Debate Dashboard tonight and make a difference

Thank you

Douglas

Let’s be clear – tonight’s Leaders’ debate on the economy is a huge opportunity to show the country the facts.

Labour has shown that it can manage the economy in good times and in the bad times of the global economic crisis. It was Gordon Brown that had the experience, judgement and substance to lead Britain from recession to recovery. Tonight is our chance to prove it.

So I’m asking you – one more time – to use the Labour Debates Dashboard to share our message with your friends through email, Facebook and Twitter.

Visit the Dashboard now and be the first to see our new Word of Mouth app

You know that Gordon can’t be matched on experience, judgement and substance by either David Cameron or Nick Clegg. And with a record number of undecided voters at this election, we can all make a difference tonight by playing a role in making that point.

To help you, we’ve added a new Word of Mouth app to this week’s Debate Dashboard – allowing you to show your support for Labour right up until polling day.

Visit the Debate Dashboard tonight and make sure everyone knows the important choice facing the country

In this word of mouth election, Labour supporters across the country know that we’ve got a real chance in the debates and in conversations afterwards to make our point – that Britain is on the road to recovery and we cannot let the Tories wreck it.

Visit the Debate Dashboard tonight and make a difference

Thank you

Douglas

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Telegraph’s friendly fire fuels Clegg campaign

With great thanks to The Daily Telegraph, Nick Clegg got just the boost in exposure he needed to come very close to clinching the second of the leadership debates in Bristol, last night.

We were left puzzled over why the Telegraph decided to run with the story they did, yesterday, mainly because there really isn’t much of a story there at all.  It was intended to – evidently – depict Clegg as just another one of the boys.  It back-fired though into a massive crash as Clegg looked – once again – more the victim and outsider to traditional ‘jobs-for-the-boys’  politics, surging ahead in many polls following the debate.

The Lib-Dems played the scandal perfectly, not giving it the purchase that was intended by simply brushing it off as nonsense and by not reacting in any substantive way at all, really.  It was a master stroke by the Clegg handlers and an inspired bit of public relations.

What it will mean for the Tories is yet to be seen, with Cameron coming across much stronger last night – though still falling short of the target of ‘knock-out punches’ in the Sky debate.

Dave does seem to be loosening up a bit, but the Tories need to concentrate on letting him be himself as the election looms ever closer.  PR is about taking calculated risks, and so far the Tories seem – with a few exceptions – reluctant to do this, opting instead to stay in the safe, calmer waters of generalization and vagueness.

All is not lost, though, as Cameron has proven himself more than capable of serious political discourse in the past.

We think he needs to 1) stop assuming the electorate to be incapable of grasping complex political concepts, 2) open up all the stops on the console of the Cameron organ – let fly, be passionate, take the risks, 3) hammer away at the Lib-Dems and Labour – concentrate on policy, not personality.  The electorate is much more intelligent and informed than – we think – any of the leaders appear to believe.

Bring it home, Dave.  We know you can do it.  The question is, do you?

Labour “proud of [their] record on civil liberties”

The government that brought in more than 3600 new criminal laws (that’s about one new law for every day they’ve been in power), put CCTV on every street corner, abused NHS databases for their own gain, and wants to fingerprint our children without our permission now says that they are defenders of civil liberty.

This leaves us with one question: Where is this bizarro planet of which they speak, and how can we destroy it?

Dylan Sharpe, of Big Brother Watch has written an important article outlining where the “Big Three” stand on matters of civil liberties and the surveillance state, which is well worth a read.

Big Brother Watch have also published a manifesto, drawing on their considerable background in the defense of liberty that addresses some points key to upholding civil liberties in the United Kingdom.

It is important, they say, not to be lulled into complacency by either the Tories or the Lib-Dems, simply because of their stand on the bloated Nanny State.

It is a common theme in the fight for liberty, privacy and freedom; but strong words spoken outside Whitehall often get muffled once the party in question finds itself in government with the bread-and-butter issues of economy, schools and health to deal with. The general opposition from the Tories and Lib Dems to large state databases should be praised; but neither party makes any effort to put forward a timetable for their removal or explain, where necessary, what form the replacement system will take.

After the National Identity Register and DNA database, the most intrusive elements of surveillance faced by the British public come from the intercept modernisation programme – the plan to store and monitor our phone calls and emails – and the automatic numberplate recognition (ANPR) camera network – which tracks around 14 million drivers each day. The opposition parties only make fleeting references to the former and no reference to the latter in their manifestos.

The economy, immigration, and the whole lot of other platforms on which the parties are campaigning are very important.  But, we – like Big Brother Watch – believe that even more important is the insidious encroachment of Labour’s bedroom eyes into our lives.

Govern yourselves accordingly.

How do blogs influence the electorate?

We just read through some very articulate – and widely varied – opinions on how social media/blogs are influencing this election.

What do you think?  Leave a comment, or write us.

These are from the Norfolk Blogger’s blogsite, over here.

Senior Speaks says:

I don’t think blogs influence people. People tend to like the views of people who agree with them, so they are more likely to read blogs by people who have similar views to them.

It seems that the most popular blogs are blogs hosted by media organisations such as newspapers and the BBC, and party-political blogs. In the case of media blogs, their popularity is the result of being given publicity by the organisations which manage them. In the case of party-political blogs, I think their popularity is gained because other people who support the same party will link to those blogs on their blogs. I think bloggers who don’t support a political party will always find it more difficult to attract readers.

Having said all that, I don’t think the vast majority of people know what a blog is, so blogs won’t influence them.

Cranmer had a different take entirely, though:

It is His Grace’s experience that blogs can have considerable impact in places and upon people one would least expect.

It is not dependent on a mass following, but on a consistent quality of relevant output. Those blogs which descend into comment anarchy cease to offer rational discourse: the blogs that work are those upon which the dialogue is genuine, philosophical and affecting.

The Ghost of Joe Strummer says it has no effect whatsoever, and has some disparaging things to say about blogs in general – that they remind him why he doesn’t listen to them.

dazmando says blogs can have an effect, but it is marginal:

I like to think that Bracknell blog has had an effect on the stories broken here. Like the cllr who was claiming benefits while working or Andrew Mackay and even the open primary. But I dont think my blog has effected anyones vote as I dont try to convince readers to vote Lib Dem. If I did try in infulence things I would lose my readers.

So im summary a blog has a small effect on the outcome even the biggest blogs.

oranjepan thinks blogs keep the important issues up front:

My own blog is less a site where news can be broken, but rather a digest which enable the guaging of the scale of public reaction and provides some feedback.

This is quite effective as it keeps the more important stories alive longer and it also subjects the public statements of each side to their counterarguments where they’d otherwise be ignored.

We’ll have more later, as we continue to scour the net for influence and groundbreaking stories from the world of social media.

What do you think?  Leave a comment, or write us.