The media and the debates

Over at The New Republic's blog, Jonathan Cohn points out that the news reports of the debates tomorrow will give people a different impression of what actually happened in the debates, because the media will naturally focus on the zingers, and lift them out of context. He uses the Hillary flame-on moment as an example, saying it might well look like an example of HRC losing her temper. I think this is right. HRC did lose her temper, but she was right to, and I think it helped her -- at least it seemed that way to me watching the entire debate. If I saw that cold, as part of a clips highlight, I'd probably think less of HRC for it.

Similarly with the GOP debate, Romney actually looked better on substance than is likely to be reflected in a highlights reel. His opponents got the better sound bites, though.