Should Gordon Brown take part in a televised debate? Sky News has announced that it will hold one before the next elections, and David Cameron and Nick Clegg have agreed to take part. However, Brown knows there are considerable risks involved - this Economist article gives as an example the debate between Kennedy and Nixon in 1960. Radio listeners thought that Nixon was the better debater that night, but television viewers (of which there were many millions more) thought Nixon looked sweaty and shifty, whilst JFK came across as calm and reasonable.
However, if Brown doesn't take part, Sky says they will go ahead anyway and leave an empty chair to represent him - perhaps they will be tempted to follow Have I Got News for You who once represented Roy Hattersley with a tub of lard when he was unable to turn up...
