David Ayón, senior research associate for The Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles, served as a political commentator for the vice presidential debate between Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware on KMEX- TV, the Univision station in Los Angeles.
The face-off between the two vice presidential contenders was one of the most highly anticipated political debates in U.S. history. After watching the verbal contest, Ayón told viewers both sides had strong arguments and there was no clear winner. He stated that Biden won by being direct, but Palin also won with her folksy delivery.
Ayón has served as an elections analyst, consultant and special producer for Spanish-language TV news coverage of every U.S. electoral cycle since 1992 and has contributed essays on Latino politics and on Mexico to the opinion pages of the Los Angeles Times since 1990.
Early ratings indicate that 34.8 million people watched the debate on ABC, NBC and CBS networks, which is 42 percent more than watched last month’s Presidential debate. Univision is the highest-rated Spanish language network in the United States.