A slightly rough start to the debate just after 11 a.m. Saturday between Virginia's candidates for governor at The Homestead in Hot Springs proved to be something of an omen of what was to come.
It started off with Democrat Terry McAuliffe introducing himself first, when called upon to do so by moderator Judy Woodruff of PBS, even though it was already decided that opponent Ken Cuccinelli would go first. Like a student correcting his teacher, Cuccinelli quickly jumped in to let Woodruff and McAuliffe know he was sticking to the game plan and would go first.
And those watching the debate on PBS NewsHour's live stream chimed in on Twitter. (By the way, no one at PBS seemed to be able to turn up the volume — lots of complaints on the site about not being able to hear it well and with zero tweets on their official Twitter page, it didn't seem like a good way to notify them after they seemingly turned a deaf ear, no pun intended, to those on the site.)
Followers on Twitter used #VBAdebate (it peaked at 2,700 tweets per hour, according to hashtags.org).
Here's what some Northern Virginia notables in the Twitterverse had to say about the great debate:
- Creigh Deeds @CreighDeeds11h Cooch blames the Governor for introducing him to Star Scientific! #uptohiselbows
- Adam Ebbin @AdamEbbin11h Cuccinelli still believes homosexuality is destructive to the soul, and other crazy talk.#VBAdebate
- Larry Sabato @LarrySabato10h: Exceptionally negative debate, but that was inevitable. Candidates' flaws are as (more?) obvious than virtues.
- Bob Lewis @APBobLewis12h: #vagov debate opens edgy with@KenCuccinelli attacking @TerryMcAuliffe character. McAuliffe calls Cuccinelli social ideologue.
- Mark Herring @SenMarkHerring10h: Proud to be on the ticket with @TerryMcAuliffe. He laid out a specific, positive vision to create jobs and move Virginia forward #Vbadebate
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