Trevor Sargient gets his Podge and Rodge slot

billy the squid

Did anyone see the Green Party Leader on Podge and Rodge. after all of his whining he finally got his interview with them. But the real question, is appearing on a show such as podge and rodge good for a politicians career or detramental to it?

I would believe that it would be good for their career in the same way is it would have been for Tony Blair when he appeared in The Simpsons,

So two questions really. What did you think of Trevor Sargent's performance on the show, and do you think that appearing on shows that would be considered "Entertainment" rather than current events is good or bad for a politician's career.

Incidentily I have the interview in mpg1 format, however its 125 megs. I can convert it to realmedia file if anyone wants to host it.

aidan_walsh

Three words. Celebrity Big Brother.

What did you think of Trevor Sargent's performance on the show

So so. Fair dues to him for taking the stick given his performance when he was cancelled the first time (which really could\should[?] have done more for his public image than actually appearing on the show), and he was game to roll with the punches. It was a pretty typical "politican on a funny show" performance, in that he didn't really add a lot to it and acted on what was given to him, but I guess he didn't go into television for a reason...

do you think that appearing on shows that would be considered "Entertainment" rather than current events is good or bad for a politician's career.

By and large, I have no problem with politicans appearing on entertainment shows, provided they pick ones that they might be suited to. Quite a few appeared with varying degress of success on The Panel. If they have the charisma, and they go for a show that will expose them to the right crowd in the right way, then why the hell not.

But then there are the George Galloway types...

billy the squid

Ah yes George Galloway. The problem I had with his soujourn into the Big Brother house was that it required he be away from his constituency duties for days on end, despite still collecting his MPs wages.

lostexpectation

only someone in third party could go on a hosw like that, (like Kennedy of the Libdems), you had the other Libdem go on the games on 4, but you didn't really get to see much of her...

elurhs

Didn't see it last night, I'll have to catch the repeats.
I find Sergent to be a pain in the hole in general though. I can't stand the man.

Hobbes

I saw it last night. He was good guest and took the punches well. Tried to bait him with the environmentally friendly sex shop which was hilarious but he took it in good jest (Certain solar powered items can't be stuck where the sun doesn't shine).

His responses on the questions were valid, however I think Podge and Rodge had a much clearer understanding of how politics works in this country. Something like "How many green bin presents does it take to get planning permission" ?

Lemlin

They kept mentioning comments he'd made, did he criticise the programme or what happened? I haven't been following this story.

I didn't think much og him TBH. He didn't come across as having any charisma at all and didn't have the wit to bounce their ideas back at them.

I only saw the last 5 minutes of it. To be honest both myself and my house-mate were flummoxed when we saw him on the show. Couldn't quite believe it myself for a min or so.

What did you think of Trevor Sargent's performance on the show,

Not bad. He came across like most Irish politicians, a bit hesitant to answer questions properly. However, he faced up to the questions, many of which were of the type we might ask, but aren't actually asked to politicians. I was actually quite impressed with him, that he would do this.

Just shows that some Irish politicians have progressive ideas about communicating with the people.

and do you think that appearing on shows that would be considered "Entertainment" rather than current events is good or bad for a politician's career.

I'd prefer to see Irish politicians away from the normal "current events" shows. Basically because they know all the tricks to use on those shows. Its very rare that I see an Irish politician answer the exact question asked to them. usually they go off on a tangent about something else and waste everyones time.

At least with an entertainment show, there's a more relaxed atmosphere where the politicians will be interrupted and asked the questions that we ourselves actually have...... Rather than the usual crap, that leads to nowhere.