VP Candidate’s Debate - Overseas Opinion

October 4, 2008 | By TonyfromOz |

How many future US Presidents are there in this photograph?

Comment on the results of the Debate vary wildly, depending on which side whoever is writing about it supports.

Most of the US media support the Democrat point of view, and gave the debate solidly to Senator Biden, and used their sly methods to backhandedly compliment Governor Palin, where even though they praise her for not making the gaffes they (the media) all expected, they said that she was folksy, used learned methods of speaking into camera, strayed off topic, and used her ‘down home’ way of speaking to the audience without addressing the questions, while at the same time they praised Sen Biden, saying he looked polished, and clearly stated his answers to the direct questions. Comment was that the only way it could be seen as a victory for Palin was that she didn’t fail. One report I read graded the two candidates. The commentator gave Joe Biden B+, and Sarah Palin a C, just because she turned up in the first place, and didn’t shoot herself in the foot. This same commentator then proceeded to grade the moderator Gwen Ifill, and he gave her an F, saying she allowed Sarah Palin to stray away from the direct questions too much. The commentator then went on to say about Ifill that she was sucked by the far right wing bloggers who brought up the inconsequential backing of her book.

In reality, with respect to Gwen Ifill, I’m willing to conjecture that she might have been under close scrutiny not to let her bias interfere with the moderation of the debate, because it certainly seemed that for someone with that bias, she kept it in check.

However, even with the media in the pocket of the Democrats, the strange thing is this.

The morning after the debate we would have woken up to the same newspapers with the same headlines as we did see. nearly all media outlets comfortably giving the debate to Joe Biden. For those who watched, and raw figures show it as one of the most viewed televised debates since they started televising them, well, those of us who did watch would then view those newspaper reports in a puzzled manner, shake our heads, thinking that the news commentators must have been watching the same debate from some sort of alternative Universe.

However, this time, we don’t seek our opinion just from those media reports. People in their millions logged in and went to their blogs. They commented on what they saw and how they rated it. Those not into blogging, just read the blogs, and in vast numbers, the REAL people, not the media reporters commenting on just how they saw it. They commented on what they saw, the way they heard it, and how they rated it. You only have to go to the blogs to see how well Governor Palin went over with the people. Remember them, They’re the ones who also get to vote at this election. If the Reporters were the only ones who voted, then the Republicans wouldn’t see the need to run candidates. However, because it’s the people who vote, then what they see, and what they write in their blogs, read on other blogs, comment on blogs, vote on the popularity of those stories in the blogs, is part of the mix now about what people judge their opinion on.

Reports from overseas were mixed, most saying that the only way it could be considered a victory for Palin is that she didn’t fail miserably. Some were even handed in their reports.

Janice Turner Of the English media outlet Times Online used the headline for her article:

Why I love this candy-covered ball of granite, Sarah Palin

Despite the media coaching, the cheesy winks and that lapel pin, the real attraction of the Alaska Governor is her authenticity

In Australia, Gerald Baker of the media outlet ‘The Australian’ headlined with:

Folksy outsider scores points by not losing

and then went on to say in the text of the article

But she did much better than that, once again confounding her condescending critics with a pleasing fluency and an engaging folksiness, and, for the moment at least, putting a crucial floor under the McCain campaign’s freefall of the past two weeks.

It was, in fact, an impressive debate. Expectations for Senator Biden had not been all that high either, given his long-established tendency towards prolixity and logorrhea.

Also In Australia, Melbourne’s Herald Sun said in their article:

The Alaska governor disappointed those who predicted she would fail miserably in the keenly awaited primetime debate, following a tirade of mocking assessments about her credentials ahead of the election on November 4.

“I may not answer the question the way you want to hear, but I’ll talk straight to the American people and let them know my track record also,” said Palin, who was wildly popular but has seen her opinion ratings fade in recent days.

So, as with most media outlets, the praise almost seemed grudgingly given.

It’s a sorry state when media outlets wait like sharks for only one thing, a candidate committing political suicide in front of an audience, and then reporting with glee: ‘Told you so’, and are then disappointed when that person actually does well.

That’s why, when it comes to opinion, you, THE PEOPLE, are better served reading the blogs, reading about what the real people think.

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Tagged with Governor Sarah Palin, Senator Joe Biden, VP Candidates Debate |

Filed Under: 2008 Elections, Blog Related, MSM, News of the Day, Opinion Poll

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