Managing the election debate

It’s interesting, at least for the political junkies, to see Howard proposing that Sky News host the election debate. Given the majority of Australians don’t have pay television, it’s likely the mainstream news networks and the national broadcaster will only take snippets of the debate for their news programs. In previous campaigns, Howard was beaten in the debates by his opposing candidates. This time around the PM clearly does not want to take such a risk given the appalling opinion polls. He is attempting to manage the risk by limiting his exposure with Sky News and proposing the debate be held in the first week of a six week campaign.