Debate Wrap

Spent most of VP debate night watching live tapings of "Hardball" (got a brief cameo on TV and the fiancee almost got interviewed by Chris Matthews), and blogging for the St. Louis Beacon on student reaction to Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.

As I had predicted, the event ended up being more theater than news. It was odd hearing pundits more or less agree that the night was a push. No major flubs for Palin; a solid performance from Biden. C'mon, media elites, can't we find anyone to take a contrarian point of view?

Moderator Gwen Ifill put to rest any concern about her ability to be a fair referee -- 90 percent of undecided voters polled at the Washington U. law school said they thought Ifill was evenhanded in her questioning. That same group, for the record, found Palin to be likeable but not substantive. Biden got generally high marks.

It was noteworthy, too, that MSNBC was the only station to have a real presence on campus (or at least the part of campus where those without press passes could wander.) Hardball had several tapings from the quad; CNN and FOX were nowhere to be found. That's curious, given the build up to this debate.

In fact, I saw more of Matthews and John Oliver from The Daily Show than reporters from the major networks and newspapers combined. Guess that's a matter of those programs playing to their base.