Balance of Opinion: Style versus substance (Dallas Morning News compares coverage)

[struggle4progress]

02:45 PM CDT on Friday, October 3, 2008

... Peggy Noonan is dazzled by Ms. Palin's performance, affirming her as "the star" of the event, while Mr. Biden was "the second male lead" ...

.. Eugene Robinson has other suspicions: "Whatever you think of Ms. Palin's mugging, eye-rolling and other theatrics – some viewers doubtless saw it as evidence of freshness, resolve and spunk; others, like Lou Grant in the old Mary Tyler Moore show, must have been muttering, 'I hate spunk' – you still wanted to hear what she and John McCain proposed to do about the mess we're in. That was something she didn't deliver, and my hunch is that we'll hear that assessment from voters in the coming days."

Andrew Romano doubts Ms. Palin "convinced many skeptical swing voters that she's qualified to lead the free world." In contrast, the Newsweek analyst writes, Mr. Biden "did what he came to do – make a clear case against John McCain. And he did it with answers that were more detailed, less rhetorical and far more responsive to the questions. You may disagree with his arguments. Many will. But it's impossible to say he wasn't polite, persuasive and well-informed."

To Joe Klein, "the fact that Ms. Palin made it through the debate without running off the stage shouting, 'I can't do this!' should not obscure the fact that there was only one person whom anyone with any sense – even John McCain, I imagine – would trust as president. Mr. Biden's performance was strong and, happily, gimmick-free" ...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/columnists/nkruh/stories/DN-balance_04edi.State.Edition1.4f513be.html