I know this is hard to believe folks. But what is really at stake here is the relevancy of this weBsite. Can a left-leaning page and its blogs make any difference at all in a presidential race it swore was the Dems to lose?

The 2008 Election will come and go. But will Slate, it's writers, readers and bloggers be shown to have been relevant on the outcome of the election?

Think about it: THIS is the real question "Palin" has exposed - all others pale by comparison.

I'll take my answers off the air and thank you.

Look, Slate isn't a news source. It's an opinion source and a heavily fauxgressive left leaning one at that. It's a specialty market. It's a great echo chamber for the latte buying, upper middle class, liberal elite. So, it's only as relevant as they are relevant. Considering their money, they will continue to flock to Slate to hear what they want to hear and then pat themselves on the back because they are so intelligent and agree with these "thoughtful" writers.

The real question is whether Slate was ever relevant as anything other than a tool to sell advertisements.

I came to Slate through NPR, which I listen to on Sattelite radio during an extremely long commute I make twice a week. Unfortunately, I have spent a fair amount of time yelling at the radio lately as the bias, which began during the primaries, has become utterly ridiculous. I statred posting on Slate to express my irritation, which builds up during my drive. Yes, I do drink Starbuck's triple grande latte's as well. Delicious.

But I use the latte expression to indicate a certain sense of self-importance and smugness. I'm a long time NPR listener too. I've been absolutely revolted by what's become of NPR ever since I heard Ken Rudin say that Hillary Clinton was akin to Glenn Close's character in "Fatal Attraction." Opinion is now commonly substituted for journalism, even on NPR. I think an Obama loss might wake them up. I get that many liberals are a bit desperate after 8 years of Bush, but you don't go nuts in response to a nut. That's basically what has happened to the Democratic Party, it's become so desperate that good sense and good leadership has gone the way of the dodo.

in this election because the people posting here are pretty much already set in stone in regards to their intentions to vote on the Left or Right.

Nobody and I mean nobody comes to Slate for hard news or even handed interpretation of news events because even to the meanest intellect it's obvious that the Slate house writers are working for the Left's agenda. They are essentially MSNBC with some modest abilities in the writing department. That's it.

I look at Slate.com and particularly its Fray boards as a vehicle for intellectual exploration in the relms of politics and cultural development. I don't have to agree with the Slate writers to find their biased and limited take on issues of some value. But the nation as a whole? No, of course not. For all that the occassional Slate writer is sometimes invited to a political talk show it does not make the e-zine itself politcally relevant.

I find slate less relevant in some ways, but better in others. For example, they've added an education writer who doesn't seem to belong too much to the latte club. The Fray is still a great place to see what people across Ahmurica are thinking. Where I think slate falls is its incredible Northeast/lazy liberal bias--their writers seem to think the Midwest is a figment of someone's imagination, and the lazy liberal label belongs to those who've never set foot in a union shop or planted their own potatoes and hay (God, the other day, Dahlia Lithwick said that when Palin mentions owning a thresher in the upcoming debate, Biden should see her the thresher and raise her a 'bailer,' her way of spelling hay baler). I think slate writers are out of touch with the poor, the working poor, the bent over with work but not poor, the farmers, the immigrants, and the elderly--they just came out with what they call their "Geezer Issue"!!!!!!!!!!!! These writers need the one thing you can't buy at Lowes--a clue.

Slate is just the pre-74 The New Republic in a different form; ie, a place for liberal pseudo-intellectuals to show how closed-minded they are. Occasionally there's something here to spark either amusement or (extremely rarely) some thought, but for the most part it's a site that preaches to the choir. Granted, the Fray is a much more interactive and timely version of letters to the editor, but still given the general readership, the sheer amount of lousy reasoning and closed-mindedness even in here isn't really that surprising.

media outlet. Their job is to attact enough people to sell their advertisements. They market to the thinly intellectual with enough money discretionary income to buy new gadgets and toys. You will NEVER see a Walmart advertisement on this website. If you want to judge a news outlet, always look at their advertisements.