I know the talk about the debate last night is how good Nick Clegg did, to me that' irelevent and his party will do no better than they ever have.
What interested me is the way ITV set up the debate and effects that has on the unconscious.
For some reason David Cameron got the middle stand in the debate, which automatically meant he looked the man in charge, with the two rivals either side.
Bizarely, when they introduced themselves, he went last, first Clegg, then Brown then finally David Cameron.
Forget about what the polls said about Nick Clegg's performance, the most significant factor in the debate was them putting David Cameron centre stage so that he appeared to be in charge.
If they do that on the other two debates Cameron will win the election comfortably because they are unconsciously projecting that Cameron is in charge.
If I was Gordon Brown, not in a million years would I have agreed to stand to the right of David Cameron, that's the place for the right hand man, the number 2!
I thought it was an amazing blunder but suprisingly it's not been picked up on by anyone else.
I have read about voting behaviour in the past and the proven links in the US between electorate voting behaviour and what news channel they watch. Unconciously, the biggest influences and predictors of voting behaviour can be what station a voter watches, and how the primary newscaster's body language when talking about each candidate can influence the vote to a statistically significant effect.
If Gordon Brown gets to speak second and stands to the right of Cameron every time for these debates, plainly and simply he's fucked.
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