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!
