Real Winner of the Debate: Katie Couric

First, it should be noted what a great job Joe Biden did last night. I wanted him to attack a lot more and eviscerate Sarah Palin. He didn't go with my strategy and he wound up looking fantastic. If it was a surprise that Sarah Palin didn't lose the debate, it was an even bigger surprise to me that Joe Biden won it.

Not that I didn't think Biden had it in him or wouldn't be effective in a debate. It's just that he looked so overwhelmingly competent that it changed my mind about his strategy. He single-handedly accomplished the Obama-Biden campaign goal of setting the American voters' minds at ease. These guys are going to take us in the right direction. The country is safe in their hands.

In this sense, Sarah Palin's competence, or lack thereof, became irrelevant. She was shadow boxing with herself trying to stay on her feet as Biden was telling the American people why it was okay to vote for his ticket. She was in the wrong game.

But as an aside, it is instructive to see how she stayed on her feet. Here is a woman who through her other interviews clearly demonstrated that she has absolutely no grasp of the issues. That didn't magically change over night. No, what changed were the questions.

I hate to say this because Gwen Ifill seems like such a wonderful and competent woman. I want to root for her. But it has to be said. She was awful. In fact, one our viewers nicknamed her Gwen Awful. At the time, I thought that was way too harsh, but now reflecting back on it, she really didn't do the job.

Why? Because all she did was pose simple questions that were easily deflected with prepared talking points. That's not a debate; that's a boring, fairly useless, series of mini-speeches. If you don't probe beyond the initial non-answer, you are simply not doing your job. That's a disservice to the American people who came to find out if these people know what they're talking about and what their real plans for the country are.

Here is where Katie Couric comes into the picture. Her interviews with Sarah Palin were excellent for one simple reason - follow-ups. She did what, unfortunately, so little journalists do these days - she asked pertinent, revealing (yet polite) follow-up questions. This allowed us to see behind the veneer of Sarah Palin and realize it was backed up by absolutely nothing. Real journalism led to real facts we would not have otherwise seen.

Imagine if Couric had not done those interviews - or had not asked those tough follow-up questions - and all we had seen were Gwen Ifill's standard queries from Thursday night, we might never have known how very little Sarah Palin really knows. And that's relevant. It's important for the voters to understand how much or how little these candidates actually know. They are applying for the most important job in the world.

Of course, this shouldn't be directed at only one candidate. Every candidate should have to answer tough but fair follow-up questions in all of their interviews and all of the debates. Without it, all we have is an opportunity for a politician to drone on without ever being challenged on their position. Ifill did not find that balance on Thursday night. And thereby, inadvertently, showed us how good and how important Katie Couric's interviews with Sarah Palin really were.

So, if there was any clear cut winner from last night's debate, it was Katie Couric.

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Comments

[Traveller]

Katie did her job very well and it was a scary but real bringing down to earth by her. Good for her. Everyone had all but forgotten Katie but she has shown that she still has it. Palin is a gutsy pretty woman who is the latest shiny object. Palin does not represent all women. Its a shame for women all over to realize that such a "woman" candidate was chosen who is given high points for simply surviving. Who is treated like a prisoner and not with the respect she should have commanded if she were really a strong candidate. She reminds me of Harriet. I mean why do men choose women because of any other reason but that they are strong and competent. Its a slap in the face of women who are competent. Passing a test of not making a huge mistake is not a measure of either women or VP candidates.
And Biden was right. Just becausee one is a mother does not make them a better parent. She proved nothing.
T

[obamanation31]

I think the fix was on. The McCain campaign had already painted her as in the tank for Obama and she caved in to pressure to go easy on her. You are right the questions were like softballs, easy to dodge with no follow up and no insistence that she answer them.
Palin came across as a "Stepford candidate" who was programmed to say a series of talking point.
On the other hand Biden was articulate, spontaneous, and very real and that’s what the audience saw.

[justobserve]

Yes, I agree about the fix. Next debate for Obama is with Brokaw, he should point out that Brokaw is the ambassador for NBC-McCain!

[WritusMaximus]

Ifill is definitely no Couric. Hope Ifill recuses herself from being a moderator from any and all political debates, 'cuz her refusal to follow-up due to pressure/her misconstrued definition of fairness disqualified her.

Couric, however, must show that she can be as tough on the dems as she is on repubs.

[toosinbeymen]

Right on, Cenk! In addition, I thinkJoe Biden's approach was perfect at showing effortlessly a not very attractive side of Sarah Palin. How can anyone pull the lever for this pair in good conscience?

[XME]

Most definitely. If it wasn't for Katie Couric, American would not have been using tonight to see if Palin REALLY understands the issues. If not for the Couric interviews, I don't think most Americans would have noticed that tonight what Palin did was a great job of AVOIDING answering the questions asked and a great job a reciting memorized statements. Fortunately, I think because of those interviews, most Americans did in fact see that tonight. I think they saw the real Sarah Palin, not the one that created in their heads that they saw at the convention. And I think many still on the fence saw someone uniquely unqualified for the job, especially at a time when we desperately need someone who can handle the whole job, including taking over for the president in every aspect.

Think about this: If McCain and Palin are elected November 4th, and John McCain died November 5th, in just 109 days from today, Sarah Palin ALONE would be sworn in as our next president!

[berkawoo]

I find it interesting that the powerful right wing media such as FOX NEWS and the Limbaugh AM radio shills
have been complaining about how Palin has been treated ("gotcha tricks"). These right wing news and media outlets are based on attacking and blaming the Clintons for the past 16 years. Mount an attack machine on Hillary Clinton but don't you dare be tough on Sarah Palin. The attacks on Bill Clinton were mounted and achieved so that Clinton could not govern. It was o.k for them to obstruct the Clinton presidency. Its o.K for O'Reilly to be tough on Obama in an interview, but it is unacceptable for Charles Gibson and Katie Couric to ask tough questions of Palin. These conservative have a real double standard,

[BerrSD]

"I hate to say this because Gwen Ifill seems like such a wonderful and competent woman. I want to root for her. But it has to be said. She was awful. In fact, one our viewers nicknamed her Gwen Awful. At the time, I thought that was way too harsh, but now reflecting back on it, she really didn't do the job.

Why? Because all she did was pose simple questions that were easily deflected with prepared talking points. That's not a debate; that's a boring, fairly useless, series of mini-speeches. If you don't probe beyond the initial non-answer, you are simply not doing your job."

The debate format was set up by the debate commission and part of that format was that Gwen couldn't ask follow-up questions. I thought Gwen did a very good job moderating. The questions were hard hitting and insightful.

[kroses98]

I have to admit that Katie vindicated herself in my eyes this past week. Thank you Katie.

[M1]

Wow, great insight. I just posted how awful a job Gwen Ifill did. She was like a ghost in the room.

She never pushed back on Palin's assertion that she need not follow the pre-agreed upon debate

rules....you know like answering the questions. She conducted no meaningful follow-up even when

there were huge information gaps hanging open. It was like Palin was just on the stump giving

canned answers. In the end, I think Katie Couric gets credit for saving the behinds of many Americans.

We were all calling for the real reporters to come out of retirement or to cut loose their corporate bonds

and do the American peope a square.....Katie Couric answered the call big time!!

[GolfingDevil05]

Sadly, Cenk, I agree with your assessment of Ms. Ifill's performance. I don't know if she had been cowed by the flak surrounding her book, or if she didn't feel it was necessary to press for answers deeper than the talking points. I thought back to the NBC debate between Clinton and Obama at how relentless Tim Russert had been in pressing for follow-ups, and how much the public needs the moderator to perform that function.

I have a lot of respect for Ifill as a journalist, but she seemed out of her league tonight.

[obamadeus]

I agree with this completely. At the absolute minimum, Ifill should have asked Palin to answer the question whenever she avoided it, the way Leherer did. At least with Leherer, even if the candidates didn't answer the question, he made it absolutely clear that they were avoiding it.

[MGhamma]

Katie asked her some tough questions, good for her.