Judge: Sam Greenland Winner: Kevin Rudd Score: Rudd 75 | Abbott 71 Reasons Kevin Rudd (KR) won a largely disappointing debate through much better use of evidence and examples to back up his arguments and to provide rebuttal. Tony Abbott (TA) lost credibility at key points in the debate by refusing to provide evidence for … Continue reading
The Election Debates’ panel has declared Mitt Romney the winner of the First Presidential Debate. The panel was split 5-1 in favour of the Republican challenger. Both speakers provided a clear contrast in the first of their three debates: Romney punchy, Obama meandering; Romney aggressive, Obama passive; Romney confident, Obama ponderous. In the end it … Continue reading
Winner: Mitt Romney Scores: Obama 79 | Romney 81 Judge: Sam Greenland Reasons: The debate featured a refreshing level of engagement between the two principals, who preferred responding directly to their opponent over spouting rehearsed talking points. It suffered badly, though, from a failure of the moderator to maintain order or to keep to time, which both … Continue reading
Judge: Sam Greenland Winner: Julia Gillard Scores: Gillard 80 | Tony Abbott 78 Reasons: Julia Gillard narrowly won this debate after a stilted start, finishing more strongly and landing a few key blows in the final exchanges. Abbott, on the other hand, started well but was reduced by the end of the debate to reading pre-rehearsed and uninspiring … Continue reading
Sam judged, competed and coached at international level and was Chair of the World Universities Debating Council. He worked in foreign affairs, education and consultancy, and completed a research thesis on the role debating can play in teaching mainstream curriculum subjects. Originally from the UK, Sam settled into life in Melbourne, teaching at Melbourne Grammar … Continue reading
