Why Elizabeth May is not going away -"The Glib & Male Debate

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Why Elizabeth May is not going away

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The surprise star of the Globe’s debate explains why she refuses to take no for an answer

Ken MacQueen September 19, 2015

Green Party leader Elizabeth May’s decision to video tweet from a Victoria church her responses to the Globe and Mail leaders debate in Calgary was no last-minute decision. Her communications director Julian Morelli began discussions with Twitter Canada in September 2014 in case Conservative, New Democrat and Liberal leaders shut her out of debates. The result: May earned more than 1.7 million Twitter hits, was retweeted 14,000 times and gained thousands of new Twitter followers. “We won the debate because we weren’t invited,” says Morelli. May spoke to Maclean’s about the debate aftermath from her Vancouver Island riding of Saanich and the Islands.

Related reading: Video ‘transcript’ of May’s ‘Twi-bate’
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Q: This whole Twi-bate, I suppose we could call it, seemed to come as a surprise but I gather it’s been in preliminary discussions with Twitter for many months?

A: Yes. We kept it under wraps partly because there was always the chance and we hoped the Globe and Mail would see the error of its ways. I know they were receiving tonnes of subscriber letters and pressure that this didn’t make any sense. We kept open the possibility to the last minute that they might relent and realize this is foolish, especially when the Maclean’s debate went so well with four leaders on the stage.

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