Dissecting Post Coverage of the VP Debate

On October 11, 2012, Vice President Joe Biden and US Representative Paul Ryan squared off in the one and only Vice Presidential debate. There is a lot of analysis of the debate itself going on... but I want to take a different approach. I'd like to actually exam the post-debate coverage and see what we can learn from that coverage itself.

 

When debate had ended, I flipped between 3 networks (intentionally avoiding FOX News) and was greeted by the same thing on each: journalists lauding Biden for his strong performance and for ‘taking command’ of the debate by not allowing Ryan to make points that might score with voters. They talked about how pleasant and reassuring his constant smiling was, and how it made him seem more personable. But the best was when one pundit referred to some of his ‘folksy’ comments and compared him to having appeal similar to Sarah Palin! (Seriously?)

 

And yet, the very next day the REAL results began coming in and – while neither can claim a knock-out punch – the notion that Biden ‘won’ or was seen as ‘in control of the debate’ seems to be unraveling rapidly as actual normal people weigh-in. The media is in a tail-spin trying to run interference for the Obama/Biden campaign, twisting themselves into pretzels attempting to explain away the results that are now being documented.

 

CNN Poll: Debate watchers split on who won VP debate

 

Nowhere is this better seen than in that bastion of journalist integrity – CNN. In this single article we learn a great deal:

1.      Poll results qualified as being taken from a Republican-leaning area (when is the last time you saw it reported when a poll was taken from a Democrat-leaning area?)

2.      Specific notation that the “poll does not and cannot reflect the views of all Americans” because it is only from those who watched the debate (again, when is the last time you saw that qualification being made / reported?)

3.      A poll in which “one-third of the respondents who participated in tonight's survey identified themselves as Republicans” (aka 33.3%), 34% Independents, and 31% Democrats is dismissed because it “indicates that the sample of debate watchers is more Republican than an average of recent CNN polls of all Americans.” (which confirms for us CNN polling generally is more Democrat-slanted)

To be fair, the sampling for CNN’s survey is only 381 people with a 5% margin error – making the results basically irrelevant. And yet look at how hard the media feels the need to explain them away!

 

Polls show Joe Biden is vice presidential debate winner (an intriguing headline on its own – since only 2 polls are covered and 1 of the polls actually says Ryan won)

 

But if you’re a Democrat, it’s okay; CNN assures us that this CBS News’ poll gave Biden the big win. However, when you look at the info on the CBS News poll, the survey population is only up to a whopping 431 people. But we are again assured, this time by CBS, that these results can be trusted because CBS also declared Romney the winner of the first debate “using the same basic methodology.”

 

We know that the fairly evenly split group that CNN talked to basically called the debate a tie. But the CBS News group not only gave Biden a commanding debate victory (13%); they pretty much ranked Biden higher in every single question asked following the debate. So let’s dig a bit into exactly who these “uncommitted voters” were in the CBS News poll.

 

Poll: Biden takes debate over Ryan, uncommitted voters say

 

VERBATIM FROM THE END OF THIS ARTICLE (my emphasis added):

 

The "uncommitted voters" who participated in this poll are either undecided or have chosen a candidate but say they could still change their minds. (If you've chosen a candidate, you are NOT "uncommitted", you've acted on your gut preference already.) They are less likely than voters overall to identify with either of the two major political parties: 58 percent call themselves independents (does this mean they are REGISTERED Independents or just consider themselves to be independent?), 17 percent identify as Republicans, and 25 percent say they are Democrats.

 

This CBS News poll was conducted online using GfK's web-enabled KnowledgePanel?, a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 431 uncommitted voters who have agreed to watch the debate.

 

Oh, BTW, this poll ALSO has a margin of error of 5% - making its results statistically invalid as well. As if 381 people or 431 people could possibly reflect the views of over 40 MILLION voting age Americans; and even if they could – do you really think on a national level there are 25% Democrats to only 17% Republicans… how is that “representative of the U.S. population?” And yet again, look how the media seems almost desperate to create a narrative in which Biden is the winner.

 

Joe Biden's smiling: Was there a method to his madness?

 

This analysis contains what may be my favorite of Biden's performance. It purports that not only were Biden's actions wrong... but that it was completely intentional, planned, and that he was coached to do exactly what he did for the sole purpose of benefiting President Obama:

 

So the challenge for Obama (in the 2nd debate) will be to carefully calibrate his next performance, correcting his previous mistakes without making it seem like he’s overcompensating.

 

And that’s where Biden’s incessant, aggressive smiling comes in. By taking his own animation level right through the roof, Biden may have given Obama a little more room to emote on Tuesday, without seeming like he’s overdoing it.

 

Because everyone just saw what overdoing it looks like – thanks to Biden.

 

So why, you may ask, would the media be working so hard to make Jokin’ Joe look so good? Actually, the gracious folks at CBS News provided that answer in the very last paragraph of their story above: “Finally, even a draw is probably a victory for the Obama campaign. The Romney/Ryan campaign came into the debate riding a wave of momentum from Romney’s victory in the first presidential debate. A tie in the vice presidential debate may effectively blunt that momentum, and allow President Obama to turn the tide in the next presidential debate.” (In other words, they admit that Biden really didn’t do as great as they want us to think… so they are trying to do their best to slow down Romney/Ryan to give Obama a chance to reclaim his mantle of superiority.)

 

Just watch – no matter how Obama performs in the 2nd debate, he’ll be the hands-down winner. In fact, the media pundits probably already have scripted what their responses (and the post-polling results) will be...