Ming Campbell Visit - Page 3

seaweasel · 21st February 2007, 4:47pm

Touche.

mypanda · 21st February 2007, 6:42pm

Sir Ming was also an ex-President of the GUU.

I think perhaps a GUU Presidency sets you up with skills that are useful for politics, or perhaps to become GUU President you had to have those skills in the first place.

Who knows. Remember, success isn't defined as how well your name is known!

amytiger · 21st February 2007, 6:50pm

I have my ticket

*Potatojunkie* · 23rd February 2007, 9:19pm

Well, there it is: Ming Campbell's a 40 watt bulb. Confusing Chernobyl with Kiev (and Russia with the former Soviet Union) is the sort of thing you might expect Bush to come out with, not the leader of the Liberal Democrats. Telling students (whom you seem to think receive grants) that they out to feel ashamed of themselves because Glasgow's full of poor people is not the way to win over a crowd.

mypanda · 23rd February 2007, 9:36pm

I don't think he was there to "win over a crowd". I think he was there to answer questions that students put to him, which he did pretty well.

Were you sitting there waiting for him to slip up or were you there to listen to the message he was trying to get across?

*Potatojunkie* · 23rd February 2007, 9:46pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypanda

I don't think he was there to "win over a crowd".

If he wasn't, he should have been. He's a politician, for heaven's sake.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypanda

I think he was there to answer questions that students put to him, which he did pretty well.

He failed to answer most of them. The first question he was asked, for example. He completely failed to acknowledge that he'd been asked a question about democracy, and instead chose to hurl cheap insults about the SNP (at someone who voted for his party at the last election, no less).

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypanda

Were you sitting there waiting for him to slip up or were you there to listen to the message he was trying to get across?

The latter. It was impossible not to notice the former, though, given how frequently it happened. I tried hard to like him, I really did. He seemed quite intent on insulting everyone there, though, which struck me as an odd way to go about things.

mypanda · 23rd February 2007, 9:52pm

I think that you're taking a different impression than most people from the talk. I found the talk quite interesting - it was nice to see him in the flesh, and I'm glad he actually took the time to visit the Union, taking questions from the floor rather than from a pre-screened list.

*Potatojunkie* · 23rd February 2007, 10:13pm

I'd love to hear what other people thought about it. I was there with my girlfriend, Jennie, who's been quite heavily involved in politics for the last fifteen years, and she came away with an impression not dissimilar to mine. Had a brief chat with Amy afterwards, too, but haven't really had the chance to talk to anyone else about it yet.

mypanda · 23rd February 2007, 10:23pm

Well most people that I spoke to thought the event went well. If you disagree with his politics then fair enough -

I think it's a good thing that he took the time to come to the Union and speak directly with students, and that kind of participation on both the student and politician sides should be encouraged.

Do you have any photos of the event? I'd quite like to be able to see them.

seaweasel · 23rd February 2007, 10:24pm

I wish I could have made it along however Potatojunkie has confirmed my suspicions about the way the Lib Dems are going. I always had a soft spot for them (and for Ming and Chuck) even though I've never voted for them, but their hypocrisy and negative campaigning has changed my opinion of them. I'd like to get some more opinions of how it went however.

As Jamie says, it's a good event to have though, it would be nice to get speakers from other parties too in the run-up to the election.

amytiger · 23rd February 2007, 10:35pm

I like most of his policies, but he's not really a very endearing speaker.

I think the event itself went fine enough, and I'll probably still vote Lib Dem, but I'm not going to be terribly enthusiastic about it.

As for that Kiev thing, oh dear. (For general interest, Chernobyl is 80 miles north of Kiev. Close, but no cigar. :P )

*Potatojunkie* · 23rd February 2007, 10:38pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypanda

Well most people that I spoke to thought the event went well. If you disagree with his politics then fair enough

The annoying thing is that I wholeheartedly agree with most of his politics, and voted Lib Dem in the last election. I just find the notion that a referendum on independence would somehow distract people from every other issue to be, well, out of touch with reality, not to mention insulting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypanda

I think it's a good thing that he took the time to come to the Union and speak directly with students, and that kind of participation on both the student and politician sides should be encouraged.

Oh, absolutely. Doesn't happen nearly often enough. I was quite impressed with the level of turnout, and the standard of questions being asked.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mypanda

Do you have any photos of the event? I'd quite like to be able to see them.

Pow pow pow. Most of them turned out rubbish because he had no light on his face and he was right in front of a window. I got some crowd ones that I'll upload when I have time. Fridays mean Cheesy Pop, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by amytiger

(For general interest, Chernobyl is 80 miles north of Kiev. Close, but no cigar. :P )

It's more the fact that it's a rather populous city, and there would have been about two million people living there at the time.

mypanda · 23rd February 2007, 10:56pm

To be fair, people make mistakes all the time. What I really want from a politician is that they will make decisions in line with a set of principles that I agree with, not that they can recall every fact on the spur of the moment all the time!

If you agree with Lib Dem policies, but want to change the way things are debated and presented then get involved! I only started getting involved a few months ago but already feel I have been able to contribute. I guess I was annoyed with the way politics was going - so figured I could do something about it myself.

We're going to be voting in the next elections, so lets try and set the agenda. A first step would be inviting more speakers to the Union. I was thinking about doing specific topic nights - perhaps an "ethical investment" night, or something similar?

seaweasel · 23rd February 2007, 11:08pm

You could maybe widen ethical investment with Fair Trade/Trade Justice, possibly sustainability and environmental issues too. I'd like to see one on constitutional issues, specifically the union (not ours, the big one) and independence. As for speakers, I think Alex Salmond would go down well, as would Robin Harper. You could maybe even try and get a certain Jack McConnell out of hiding, unlikely though.

Hammer · 24th February 2007, 1:01am

I wasn't impressed. He didn't come across well and he seemed to contradict himself on a few issues.

I'm surprised he wasn't more clued in, given that the student vote could prove to be very influential in May.

Still, well done for organising it Jamie. You did a good job