Brown, Couric and Maddow are like many Salon readers, intelligent, educated and infuriated with institutions and processes that leave and keep intelligent, educated people out of public discussion. These women are asking questions the standard bearers of nighttime news and newspapers have not asked. For all the accolades given to Tim Russert, he rarely asked a followed up question or challenged clearly inadequate answers or outright lies.

Women are supposed to be polite in the extreme, and the press has emphasized style over substance for a while now. At long last, women and some anchors realize that polite behavior has become an excuse to ignore bad conduct. This doesn't excuse the egotistic antics of some people like Matthews and O'Reilly, but it does beg the question: when is it a news anchor's duty as a citizen to blow and go Howard Beale on the audience?

Liberal, as in a liberal education, in the traditional sense of broad, encompassing and adaptable, is a good thing for a journalist and news organization to be. The ability to research, assimilate and communicate information in the form of a question is intrinsic to being a good interviewer and a great reporter.

It's not a coincidence these women newscasters rose to the fore at the same time as Clinton and Obama did. Liberal views offered women and non-white cultures a place in public life. Liberal policies allow for and encourage the rise from poverty to public presence, from community organizer to presidential candidate.

Neither Bill nor Hillary had the financial, political, familial or PR legacies that GOP candidates have before and after they step in the ring. Michelle and Barack Obama worked their way to the center via other,local political constructs. Women news anchors had to claim their due by staking out territory that men in charge and on TV have ignored in favor of news as entertainment. Brown, Couric and Maddow aren't doing something new, they're doing what's right; they're doing traditional, hard hitting, sharp interviewing and reporting.

Palin did exactly what she was supposed to do: hammer home the same three things over and over, regardless of the question, maintain a cheerful, friendly yet commanding appearance, and toss out figures as if they meant something.

Biden completely blew his chances to make any headway for the Obama campaign. When asked what he's changed over time, instead of setting up a story about personal and professional growth, he tells a wonky thing about justices. Important, yes, but what about his big, giant, vastly more personal shift that culminated in the Violence Against Women Act?

Iffil, like Lehrer before her, failed miserably at asking provoking questions, questions that required thought and left no room for canned answers. When will someone ask questions that demand discussion, that require the candidates to interact and think on their feet. You know, questions for discussion like teachers do in high school? Both moderators have allowed the candidates to run the debates as if they're TV infomercials.