I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin was expected to get large ratings on TV. Political bloggers from the center, left and right also weighed in on who won the debate.
The answers depended on how partisan the blogger was.
Marc Ambinder, blogger for The Atlantic, gave his initial reaction.
Averaging expectations, style and points, it was a wash. Partisans have reason to be satisfied; I honestly have no idea how undecided voters will react (although CBS’s panel of them gave Biden an edge.)
Ambinder also said the GOP could give a sigh of relief that Palin made no memorable, major mistakes.
Andrew Sullivan, also of The Atlantic, wrote, “Biden didn’t put the boot in; he didn’t come off as sexist; he didn’t make any obvious gaffes.” Sullivan has been a frequent critic of Palin in recent weeks and opined, “Her inexperience showed; her tone worked best at first and then began to grate. I don’t think this debate changed the direction of this election campaign, and I think Palin’s performance will buck up base Republicans but actually unnerve some independents.”
Chris Cillizza from the Washington Post’s The Fix characterized Palin’s performance as “folksy” while Biden appeared “competent.”
The New York Times’ The Caucus blog wrote of Palin, “Viewers who went into the debate liking her or disliking her probably saw more evidence to confirm their views.”
According to Cillizza, both vice presidential candidates stuck to their talking points.
Palin came into the debate with three goals: show she could hold her own, cast McCain as a “maverick” and drive a wedge between the issue positions of Biden and Obama.
Biden was dead set on making the case for Obama as change agent and McCain as Bush heir.
The partisan blogs were, understandably, a bit more partisan.
At Daily Kos, the largest progressive blog on the Internet, frontpage writer georgia10 wrote of Palin, “performed like a diligent understudy eager to perfectly recite the lines on a page.” Georgia10 wrote, “Joe Biden did more than just ‘perform well’ on stage.”
Erick Erickson from Redstate.com, a prominent Republican blog, disagreed. He wrote:
Sarah Palin just field dressed Joe Biden like a moose. She was awesome. She connected with the people. She had fun. She was relaxed. She was awesome.
Chris Bowers from Open Left, a progressive Democratic blog, wrote:
More than half of the time she didn’t answer the question put to her at all. For example, when asked about household debt, she talked about energy. When asked about Pakistan, she talked to Iran. And on and on.
Biden was extremely lucid by comparison. The difference between Biden and Palin reminded of the difference between listening to Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. It is only when you go back and listen to Clinton’s interviews, press conferences and speeches during his tenure that you remember it is actually possible to understand what a President is saying.
Michelle Malkin, a very conservative blogger and columnist, wrote:
She was warm, fresh, funny, confident, energetic, personable, relentless, and on message. She roasted Obama’s flip-flops on the surge and tea-with-dictators declarations, dinged Biden’s bash-Bush rhetoric, challenged the blame-America defeatism of the Left, and exuded the sunny optimism that energized the base in the first place.
Townhall, a conservative blog, said Palin had low expectations, which she met:
While both vice presidential candidates achieved their goals Thursday night, the stakes were much higher and the bar was much lower for Sarah Palin. So, in the contest of low expectations, Palin won.
MyDD’s Jonathon Singer, writing for a Democratic blog that has been noted for being critical of Obama, didn’t think Palin was vice presidential material:
She sounded like a moderately effective surrogate — a little better than a Carly Fiorina, not as good as a Mitt Romney — but not as an able partner to John McCain, and certainly not as one who could step in as President should God forbid anything happen to McCain.
In this regard, this was not a successful debate for the McCain-Palin ticket. While it may have staved off the hemorrhaging of support for the Republicans, it did little to nothing to swing the momentum back away from the Obama-Biden ticket.
