I’ve complimented CNN as of late for Drew Griffin’s expose on Obama-connected ACORN, which is currently under investigation for thousands of cases of voter registration fraud. But the reason I’ve felt compelled to compliment the network isn’t because it’s doing something remarkable — it’s not — but because being in the tank for the left is such commonplace there. Investigating the candidates and their connections is something they should’ve been doing all along, regardless of political affiliation. They simply haven’t.

Today we see the usual side of CNN. The lead story on its homepage consists of a picture of Obama supporters sitting around, under which is written, “Strong start but no win for McCain, iReporters say”. Here’s the story:

Sen. John McCain came out strong in Wednesday’s final presidental debate, but Sen. Barack Obama ultimately came out ahead, according to several iReporters.

iReporters being, of course, anyone who wants to write in to CNN. Moving onward:

Frequent iReporter Jordan Sarver of Athens, Georgia, said that McCain was the clear winner for the first half-hour of the debate. “He was on the attack the entire time and, honestly, it scared me, because it worked” said Sarver, an Obama supporter.

So we have an Obama supporter who thinks McCain was good in the first part, but thinks Obama won. Okey dokey.

Obama supporter Jemier Jenkins echoed those thoughts. The St. Petersburg, Florida, resident was impressed with McCain’s debate performance until Ayers was brought into the conversation.

Alright, we’ve got another Democrat who believes Obama won. Fair enough.

Democrat Matt Friedrichs of Orlando, Florida, called the past two presidential debates a tie, but said the final showdown produced a clear winner. “For the first time, I felt one candidate actually broke it down and explained in detail what he’s going to do if he becomes president. And that man was Barack Obama.”

Uh, yeah, so we’ve got yet another Democrat who thinks Obama won.

Independent voter Frederic Lumiere of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, said McCain is making mistakes similar to those of former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. “He is so busy attacking Obama and not really diving into his plan. The American people see right through it.”

Finally, an Independent voice. Anyone else?

Both of their emotions were palpable tonight,” said frequent iReporter and Obama supporter Caroline of Fort Campbell, Kentucky. “John McCain’s emotions I felt were really aggressive, there was this constant undertone of aggression and anger, whereas Barack Obama just seemed calm.”

Oh, so, we’re back to Democrats.

“How can people decide who the next president is going to be if all we have is bickering and arguing?” he asked in a video post on iReport.com. Basillo, a former volunteer for former Democratic candidate Bill Richardson, the governor of Mexico, spoke with an Obama campaign poster in the background.

And, uh, another Democrat. Any one else want to contribute? Guess not. That’s the last quote CNN gives from those watching the debate. So by my count, CNN interviewed 6 Democrats and one Independent. I’m more than willing to eat crow if anyone can find a Republican quoted in the article concluding that McCain lost the debate.

Incidentally, CNN hightlighted a GOTV effort in the same spot the other day. The organization? The Great Schlep, an effort to get young people to convince their Floridian grandparents to vote for…Obama.