Debate newbies to square off in leaders forum
The stakes will be high when the cameras start rolling on tonight's party leaders debate.
For the first time in any of their political careers, the leaders of four provincial parties seeking to form the next Alberta government will appear in a televised debate.
These debate newbies — the PC's Jim Prentice, Brian Jean of the Wildrose, the NDP's Rachel Notley and David Swann of the Liberals — will have 90 minutes to show Albertans why they deserve support and perhaps why Albertans should care about this election.
"None of these people have been in this situation before," noted pollster Bruce Cameron.
"Given all the elections that certainly I've covered in Alberta, this has to rank up there as one of the most important debates that's ever been held."
The debate, the only planned television debate so far, comes at the mid-point of the campaign — one that pollsters are now saying appears to be a three-horse race between the PCs, Wildrose and NDP.
"People will start to focus in on who is the best person to lead the province over the next four years," said Cameron.
Debate performances have been known to make or break a campaign. All leaders will want to portray themselves as heading the party with the most momentum coming out of the debate, as they enter the final stretch of the campaign.
On Wednesday, all four leaders cut back on their campaigning time to focus on debate preparations.
Pressure cooker?
Greg Gazin, with Edmonton's New Entrepreneurs Toastmasters Club, said the leaders cannot rely solely on showing up to the debate armed with a mission and a vision.
"You need to be able to communicate that in a short period of time," he said.
He characterized the debate as a "pressure cooker."
Gazin said that he, like other viewers at home, will be watching the leaders' body language, gauging whether their message is sincere and who would make the best leader.
The debate will air from 6:30-8 p.m. on Global TV and Shaw TV.
CBC will provide live analysis of the debate.