Dems Debate in New Hampshire — Everybody Wins

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One absurd thing about a presidential debate is that the day after you can find a news report saying just about anyone won the thing. So following the Democrats’ debate in New Hampshire last night, Google News is ablaze with claims that everyone from Joe Biden to Hillary Clinton came out ahead.

CNN: “Analysts: Biden’s performance strongest”

Monsters and Critics: “Hillary’s campaign on track in a tiny state that matters”

Cornell Daily-Sun: “Democrats Debate, Obama Wins”

New Hampshire Public Radio: “Democratic Debate: Edwards Makes Favorable Impression”

And then there’s the news pieces that simply list winners and losers, which might as well be selected at random.

411mania.com says the winners were John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Mike Gravel. The losers were Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, and Chris Dodd.

USA Today says the winners were the big three, Clinton, Obama, and Edwards. The losers, presumably, were everyone else.

And on and on and on. With so many different takes on who won and who lost, I think it’s fair to call this debate a wash, just like the last one. So you heard it on MoJoBlog first: the winner of the Democrats’ debate in New Hampshire on June 3rd was — everybody! And the loser was — everybody!

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We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with the Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

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