the buzz log

After Sarah Palin's interview with Katie Couric, many predicted her debate with Senator Joe Biden would be another "moose in the headlights" train wreck. That wasn't the case. The Alaska governor held her own and had a clear command of the facts. But was she good enough to win?

Clearly, voters want to know. After the debate, searches spiked on "who won the vice presidential debate" and "who is the vp debate winner." The Buzz contains a slew of analysis pieces on who came out on top, but like everything else in politics, the answer depends on who you ask.

CNN conducted a national poll and found that Senator Biden won, but that Gov. Palin "exceeded expectations." CNN also found that Palin topped Biden on likability, but Biden was viewed to be more qualified for the job.

Politico acknowledges that Palin escaped a "demolition derby moment," but claimed Biden was still the clear winner. "The financial meltdown has put a new premium on competence, and Palin did nothing to show she is ready to be in charge." Still, Palin's "folksy charm" was, for the most part, well received, and on occasion came with a "sharp edge."

Similar analysis can be found at Time.com. Joe Klein writes that while Sarah Palin "did fine," Joe Biden "demonstrated a real knowledge of the issues." Biden, in Klein's opinion, also had the most memorable moment of the debate when he spoke about his wife's death and what it was like to be a single parent. That moment, according to Klein, "was more real than anything Palin said all night."

Still, Ms. Palin's "you betcha" phrases drew a tremendous amount of search interest. In referencing the average American, she used the phrase "Joe Sixpack." The term immediately shot up in Search ("Hockey Mom" is so last month). Palin also referred to John McCain as "the maverick" several times. For viewers, this clearly inspired memories of one of Tom Cruise's greatest hits. That's right, lookups on "top gun maverick" went supersonic. Finally, Palin's mispronunciation of the word "nuclear" drew an atomic level of searches for "nuclear vs. nucular." Remember: when in doubt, just sound it out.

Filed under: Elections, Sarah Palin

The vice presidential debate is this Thursday. In the blue corner: Joe Biden, the "Duke of Delaware." In the red corner: Sarah "The Hunter" Palin. It's going to be a debate for the ages, and we're already seeing a tremendous amount of pre-rumble interest in the Buzz.

One of the biggest stories going into the debate is whether or not the moderator, Gwen Ifill, is fair and impartial. The PBS broadcaster has written a book about politics and race that focuses on Barack Obama. Does this betray a bias?

Countless blogs within the Buzz are attempting to answer the question. Politco notes that while the McCain campaign didn't know about the book, its publication was hardly a secret. Ms. Ifill talked about during a recent interview with the Washington Post.

A Fox news site rounds up various opinions across the Web, and the National Review calls Ifill's decision to moderate "further evidence of a jaw-dropping double standard." McCain, for his part, calls Ms. Ifill a professional and seems perfectly OK with her selection. Case closed? Only time, and the thousands of pundits, will tell.

Filed under: Elections, Sarah Palin

Emily. John. Mike. Forget those tired old names. Suddenly, it seems everyone wants monikers that carry a whiff of the wild spaces of Alaska—like Track. Or Bristol. Or Willow. Or Piper. Or Trig.

Since Sarah Palin burst on the national scene, interest in her family—and her family's unusual names—has exploded. In response, the left-leaning blog Polit Tsk Tsk Tsk has set up a "Sarah Palin Baby Name Generator" and opened to a brisk business. In the past seven days, lookups in Yahoo! Search for "sarah palin baby name generator" and "sarah palin name generator" have exploded.

We gave the generator a try and emerged with such exotic, if unlikely, new nicknames as "Seagull Junker," "Filter Skate," "Copper Catfish," and "Flex Gunship." That last one sounds more Long John Silver than Wasilla hockey mom. But, hey, it's all in good fun, right?

Of course, the Palins aren't the only ones to find themselves the objects of name generators zinging across the Internet. The first family of Alaska joins such legendary (or dubious) groups as pirates, elves, mobsters, and vampires in the week's most sought-out name makers online...

Filed under: Names, Sarah Palin