Does anyone know if the debates were broadcast globally?

[chupacabranation]

I'd be interested to know.

[WeDidIt]

1. I certainly HOPE NOT!

It would be embarassing for the rest of the world to think that Sarah Palin ctually has a chance at being one 72 year old heartbeat away from being the most powerful person in the world.

[chupacabranation]

5. True...but maybe the rest of the world would also understand there's an internal debate

On what we believe in and what our values are.

I think it's important for other countries to know, too often it's an opaque "Americans are stupid and don't care about anyone" message that gets filtered through.

[slampoet]

11. Seconded.

[NotThisTime]

13. My Australian friend saw the Charlie Gibson interview, that was embarrassing enough to get them all

talking over there... And they aren't saying anything good.... They are already angry about the policies of the last 8 years (with foreign relations) and they see nothing more out of McCain than what they've already seen.

[crispini]

2. I remember reading here yesterday that BBC.com was streaming. nt

[NotThisTime]

4. Yes, it was broadcast globally

[napi21]

3. I'm sure they were. CNN is global. n/t

[Iterate]

6. No, sorry, your underwear is hangin' out on the line.

CNN international plus local translated excerpts. Plenty of coverage.

Here's one reaction, from Der Spiegel:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,582062,00.html

[TheDoorbellRang]

9. What was this referring to in Der Spiegel?

Only once was Palin's tone off-mark. That was when she snubbed the moderator Gwen Ifill, a famous African-American television journalist, criticizing "her lame attempt at a joke" that "nobody got it." The audience looked shocked: For just a moment they had a glimpse of what was behind the carefully maintained mask.

Anyone know what this is in reference to? I must have been out of the room.

[Iterate]

14. I'm not sure what that refers to.

I suspect the reporter misunderstood the reference to Palin's "joke" concerning her August understanding of Vice Presidential duties. It was at about 1:12:00 into the debate and I didn't understand the interaction then either. In general, I don't recommend watching Palin at 4AM; I have trouble understanding her at any time of day.

If there is any bright spot in this universal airing of an American embarrassment, take comfort in knowing that Obama is seen with universal hope.

[sfam]

7. The last Obama/McCain Debate was broadcast in London last week...I stayed up for it...

Even more interesting though, last week when I was in London, they had live coverage of the US Senate and House on BBC during prime time. That scared the shit out of me that they were so worried about this issue in the US, that the UK was broadcasting these things live.

Incidentally, they also rebroadcast the debate on Saturday afternoon.

[bobd0]

8. Our neighbor told us her mother in Germany was going to watch at 4 am

[Jersey Devil]

10. It was an intergalactic broadcast

Just think that somewhere in deep space, perhaps 1,000 or more light years from now, some intelligent creatures will see Palin's performance at the debate and judge the intelligence of the human race based on it.

[Schulzz]

12. CNN international, for example, shows debates and election coverage. So I think they were. nt