Who won the VP Debate? Moderator Elaine Quijano!

Fil Am October 05, 2016

Elaine Quijano wins Vice Presidential Debate

Although she had her critics, Elaine Quijano won admirers from both Democrats and Republicans as she had the tough job of moderating between the Vice Presidential hopefuls who kept interrupting and talking over each other and her.

Source: Twitter

As @FiveThirtyEight tweeted, "VP debates don’t move the polls much even when they’re pretty good debates." Since almost everyone agreed that last night's Vice Presidential Debate was not a very good one, who won?

There were negative ratings of moderator Elaine Quijano, the CBSN anchor. That was to be expected since you can't please everyone.

"Sticking firmly to script, Elaine Quijano loses the debate." CNNMoney
"Elaine Quijano cuts off the drama." Politico
"The media jury is split on debate moderator Elaine Quijano." Washington Post‎

Even David Axelrod, former Chief Strategist for Barack Obama's presidential campaigns and now Senior Political Commentator for CNN, tweeted the following:

.@Elaine_Quijano seems intent on running through her questions, even when significant exchanges are happening. #VPDebate
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) October 5, 2016

But Asian Americans, specifically the Filipino-Americans, focused on the positive aspect of Elaine Quijano's job last night.

M. Evelina Galang, a University of Miami professor and a leading advocate of Pinayism (a form of feminism rooted in the Filipina-American experience) posted this on her Facebook wall.

Pulitzer Prize journalist and activist Jose Antonio Vargas was clear in his pronouncement.

All hail @Elaine_Quijano, who survived and won the #VPDebate.
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) October 5, 2016

Of course, CBS News had to love their own!

An early winner of tonight's #VPDebate? Moderator @Elaine_Quijano, Twitter declares: https://t.co/Z9WWbYHudw pic.twitter.com/QX4emZERri
— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 5, 2016

There were many who admired Elaine Quijano for her striking good looks.

The real winner tonight is going to be Elaine Quijano's amazing contour #VPDebate pic.twitter.com/r9xCnMMsZF
— Bustle (@bustle) October 5, 2016

Lastly, there were those who recognized the uphill battle that Quijano faced last night.

Where's the Go Fund Me to buy Elaine Quijano a drink? #VPDebate
— Nicole Paulhus (@nlpaulhus) October 5, 2016

Although she had her critics, Elaine Quijano won admirers from both Democrats and Republicans as she had the tough job of moderating between the Vice Presidential hopefuls who kept interrupting and talking over each other and her. Quijano made history as the first Asian-American moderator of a general election debate. Not only did she gain more national exposure, and hopefully opened doors for bigger and better opportunities, Elaine Quijano made all Filipino-Americans proud --out of all the months -- in Filipino-American History Month!