What the world is reading about...

Suzanne Garment looks at both Palin and Biden’s performance — “political jujitsu” between a “hockey-mom” and a “politician”. She suggests that Palin is not experienced to govern and questions the success of the debaters based on the point system. Her conclusions are stark — if Palin out-does Biden in the rankings it is because “the

country is a lot bigger than we sometimes fool ourselves into thinking it is; implying that personality and deliverance play a key role where the American “mid-Westerns” identify with Palin.

Al Jazeera/Palin-Biden Debate Draws Millions

Al Jazeera’s senior Washington correspondent Rob Reynolds says that Palin, contrary to predictions, did not make any major mistakes in her face-off with Biden. The article touches on the Iraq issue looking at both Republican and Democrat strategies and finds that each accused the other of having no apparent strategy.

Slate Magazine/VP Debate — The Biggest Shocker

Timothy Noah looks at the American-ness of Alaska, where Palin comes from, against that of Hawaii, where Obama was raised. Throughout the debate, Palin stressed her traditional American roots and emphasised the role of Alaska. Conversely, Hawaii’s place in the American political landscape is vague and Obama has not used it as a campaign platform. The article reflects on the differential between Republican dominated and Democrat dominated states and their place in the American political spectrum, that is, the more Republican a state is, the more American it is perceived to be.

Foreign Policy in Focus /Dishonest Foreign Policies

Stephen Zunes comments on the failure of the VP debate to “enlighten” and the role of the media and pundits in portraying Palin and Biden as the key issues in the debate, rather than their policies. Zunes evaluates the debate in terms of the attention paid to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Israel and points out mistakes made by both Palin and Biden — such as comments on the surge in Iraq. He outlines issues Palin has clearly gotten wrong, and wonders at Biden’s failure to correct her.

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