Kaitlyn+K's+Election+Activity

Debate Observations:

Vice Presidential Debate (October 11, 2012): Paul Ryan and Joe Biden courted voters preference in discussion of foreign and domestic policy.The moderator was Martha Raddatz (ABC News Chief Foreign Correspondent).


 * || Category || Ryan || Biden ||
 * 1.) || Goals: || +2 || +2 ||
 * 2.) || Appeal to Base: || +2 || +2 ||
 * 3.) || Appeal to Swing Votes: || +1 || +2 ||
 * 4.) || Control Agenda: || +2 || - 2 ||
 * 5.) || Personal Exchanges: || +2 || -2 ||
 * 6.) || Content of Answers: || +2 || -1 ||
 * 7.) || Leadership: || +1 || +2 ||
 * 8.) || "Zingers" and blunders || -1 || -1 ||
 * 9.) || Open: || +1 || 0 ||
 * 10.) || Close: || +2 || +2 ||

Presidential Debate (October 16, 2012): Barrack Obama and Mit Romney contended in a town meeting format. The audience asked discussion questions, and the moderator was Candy Crowley (CNN Chief Political Correspondent).


 * || Category || Romney || Obama ||
 * 1.) || Goals: || +2 || +2 ||
 * 2.) || Appeal to Base: || +1 || +2 ||
 * 3.) || Appeal to Swing Votes: || -2 || +2 ||
 * 4.) || Control Agenda: || +1 || +1 ||
 * 5.) || Personal Exchanges: || 0 || 0 ||
 * 6.) || Content of Answers: || +1 || +1 ||
 * 7.) || Leadership: || 0 || +2 ||
 * 8.) || "Zingers" and blunders || 0 || 0 ||
 * 9.) || Open: || +2 || 0 ||
 * 10.) || Close: || +1 || +1 ||

Presidential Debate (October 22, 2012): Barrack Obama and Mit Romney faced off in the more enclosed setting with the moderator, Bob Schieffer (Host of Face the Nation on CBS).


 * || Category || Romney || Obama ||
 * 1.) || Goals: || +2 || +1 ||
 * 2.) || Appeal to Base: || +2 || +2 ||
 * 3.) || Appeal to Swing Votes: || +1 || 0 ||
 * 4.) || Control Agenda: || +2 || +1 ||
 * 5.) || Personal Exchanges: || +1 || 0 ||
 * 6.) || Content of Answers: || +2 || +1 ||
 * 7.) || Leadership: || +2 || +1 ||
 * 8.) || "Zingers" and blunders: || -1 || -1 ||
 * 9.) || Open: || +2 || 0 ||
 * 10.) || Close: || +2 || +2 ||

It is also useful to observe the efficiency of the debate moderators. They were supposed to guide discussion and keep the candidates is line for timing. In the Vice Presidential Debate, ABC News Chief Foreign Coorespondent, Martha Raddatz, struggled to keep Joe Biden from speaking out of turn. The October 16th and 22nd debates also yielded moderators who were similarly incapable of commanding the respect of the presidential candidates. Crowley did well for the first half of the debate, but became frantic when the candidates began to argue and take excessive minutes. Poor Schieffer's questions were criticized within the debate by Mit Romney. According to Michael D. Shear's //New York Times// article "Criticism Greets List of Debate Moderators" (August 17th, 2012), the selection of these moderators, "exposed the gulf between a new media environment moving at hyperspeed and the secretive Commission on Presidential Debates, which is steeped in the traditions of political stagecraft from prior decades." Shear elaborates on the fact that many modern news organizations have distinct party alliances and finding strong leading moderators is becoming very difficult. []

Various news stations are known for their alliance with certain political affiliations. (Fox News-Conservative) (MSNBC-Liberal) (ABC, CBS, NBC-neutral) If you do not have cable examine their respective websites to complete the assignment. After the debates (both Vice President & Presidential) watch these news stations and report how they analyze and critique the performances of the candidates. What are your general impressions (free from your own political bias)? How influential are these media outlets in convincing voters?
 * Part II. Politics and the Media**

In reference to various news stations allowing their various political affiliations to affect the way in which news is portrayed, I consulted Fox News, CNN, and CBS's reviews of the Vice Presidential and Presidential debates. On the Vice Presidential Debate, CBS News showed its democratic affiliation by promoting everything about Joe Biden. I considered his lack of citation unconvincing, but CBS suggested that he did a wonderful job "cleaning up" President Obamas blunder in the first presidential debate. They frequently quoted his statement, "who do you trust?" and suggested that Biden's age and experience outranked Paul Ryan. CNN, on the other hand, did an analysis of the strategies of both candidates. This analysis yielded that Biden's giggling was perceived by some as "disrespectful," and his complaints about their intelligence agencies was seen as evasive. I would agree that these are both plausible observations, along with the view that Paul Ryan's assertions that "the math will add up" lacked concrete evidence.

CNN continued it's moderate political position in Becky Anderson's discussion of the last presidential debate with a panel of voters abroad, who still have questions for both candidates ("both" is key). Ms. Anderson and these citizens made a great many dramatic statements about the candidates' short-comings, but they challenged the positions of BOTH parties. Fox News, like CBS, is also a partisan news station (only Republican), and broadcasted a report by Chris Wallace that reaffirmed Romney's 2nd Debate arguement about the cut-back of oil drilling permits, and suggested that the republican candidate was very successful in this debate. This was surprising because I observed that Romney struggled with projecting his leadership in this debate (his last debate was much more authoritative).

[|http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2012/10/12/exp-point-erick-erickson-2.cnn]

[|http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/11/05/ctw-intv-last-debate-performance.cnn?iref=videosearch]

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