Reading New Republic Tea Leaves to Determine Debate Winner

NewsBusters ^ | September 27, 2008 | P.J. Gladnick

[PJ-Comix]

Your humble correspondent is of the opinion that, without even knowing who wins the election in November, one can easily determine the winner by simply looking at the screen shots of liberal members of the MSM on the day after the election. Are the faces of Brian Williams, Katie Couric, Chris Matthews, etc. mournful? That will pretty much tell you who won the election the previous day. Likewise, simply by reading an analysis of last night's debate in Oxford, Mississippi in liberal publications, one can determine who won that debate without even watching it. It is called reading the liberal tea leaves and, since the NewsBusters Eye of Sauron has been upon them lately, The New Republic has been chosen as an example.

The first story chosen for this liberal tea leaf reading is titled, "They Both Lost." This was way too easy. What the title really tells you, without even having to read the story, is "McCain Won." The article itself merely confirms what was pretty much shouted out in the title (emphasis mine):

[PJ-Comix]

If screen shots of the liberal MSM members could be teleported back to me from the future, namely Nov. 5, then I could tell you with certainty who wins the presidential election.

[PJ-Comix]

PING!

[machogirl]

for chris matthews, the test is his leg, not his face

[Darkwolf377]

All in all, it was a draw, which is a plus for Barack Obama, because he is ahead in the polls.

This is their agreed-upon assessment. I think I've read this six times now.

[Caipirabob]

Great Blog, BTW...

Thanks for the great work!

[MuttTheHoople]

It's like the way Soviet Citizens reading Pravda. They could read between the lines of stories like "Glorious Wheat Harvest for Socialist Peoples" meant another food shortage. During WW II, if they read that there were strong attacks on Soviet positions by the national Socialists, they knew that the town was lost. When Pravda came out with the rare truthful headline that the national Socialists were rushing to Moscow and people should flee, that threw the people into a panic.

Same with tonight's debates. I thought McCain let a few batting practice pitches down the middle go through for strikes during the economic part (why didn't he point out that the heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were on Obama's advisor team?). On the other hand, McCain pretty much eviscerated Stuttering Barry on foreign policy.

Oh, and Stuttering Barry's ears are larger than I thought. They were completely mesmerizing. They pretty much hypnotized me for two hours. Those ears have their own Zip Code. One huge gust, and Barry was flying into the air.

[Darkwolf377]

Talk about predictable! Saw this headline at realclearpolitics:

Obama Wins Debate On Tactics and Strategies - Joe Klein, Time

Who needs to read the article?

[singfreedom]

Oh, man, I want to see Couric cry again!! That is one of my favorite memories of the 2000 election!

[Dustbunny]

No matter how well John McCain presented himself, he is presidential, no matter how well he answered the questions, he answered really well, he will never be given any credit by the MSM.

[Dustbunny]

for chris matthews, the test is his leg, not his face

Actually, it is the wet stuff he has running down his leg that causes his expressions.

[C210N]

The pundits say that a "draw" is a win for Øbama. The rationale is that since Øbama is up in the "polls", a draw only consolidates that position.

This is completely wrong, however.

Øbama has been up in the "polls" for a few months because he is the new kid on the block, while the bulk of Americans were either on their summer vacations or just not plain interested in the election. The thing is that as the election nears, more people focus on it... rationally. They are taking in the candidate positions and deciding who they like better, and they generally are center-right. Øbama is FAR FAR FAR left. He campaigned that way, he beat Hillary! that way. McCain did not. The bottom line is that as the message gets out, there is a slow but steady stream of voters going to McCain's side. If McCain does NOT get message out... Øbama wins. A debate like last eve, the message does get out, and the slow but steady stream jumps a bit to a larger wave, returning to a steady trickle until the next debate.

[johnny7]

When moderator Jim Lehrer said at one point that the two candidates had spoken for almost the same amount of time, we were surprised; McCain seemed from our perspective to command more time.

Chris Cillizza at WaPo's politics blog.

[syriacus]

Great column.

[LibLieSlayer]

I have posted this several times but it bears repeating... McCain will not go nuclear on the economy until there is some bill passed. He does not want the left to bash him over politicizing it... although that is all that the left has done. When a deal is struck, the ads will fly and blood will be let.

LLS

[fightinJAG]

Krauthammer said the same thing, and, come to think of it, Fred Barnes said something quite similar.

Still, there is a difference. The conservative pundits based their conclusion explicitly on political dynamics, not on reality. In reality, McCain won big-time.

[for-q-clinton]

That’s because B Hussein Obama was stuttering so much...he actually had as much time as mcCain, but in actual content and words McCain had twice as much time.

[skinkinthegrass]

Here....
........

[johnny7]

David Yepsen, DesMoines Register... a lib.

“It was one of the most substantive
debates in recent presidential campaign history, and John McCain won it.”

With decisive words, McCain keeps a step ahead of Obama

[IMissPresidentReagan]

Well, when you cover your eyes, plug your ears and dream about what a great hopeful changefilled dude Obama is, I can see how one would think the debate is a tie.

[machogirl]

lol, i’ll bet they had to mop after his show