Is this the way we should judge candidates' performances at presidential debates?
"Fred Thompson delivered a gaffe-free performance at his first Republican presidential primary debate yesterday as he, Mitt Romney and Rudolph W. Giuliani all scrambled to assert themselves as the leader that Republican voters are looking for."
"Gaffe-free"? That's the most important thing?
Nor am I picking on this particular reporter--much debate coverage is like this.
Perhaps our 24-7/all-news-all-the-time/YouTube culture helps drive this.
There's an insatiable appetite for news, but of course there's never enough to go around.
Hence "gaffes" from the famous or from politicians is always great stuff for online and cable news outlets. But does it edify our political discussion? Nah.
