McCain Says He Has No Problem With Gwen Ifill Moderating Debate
The wingers are in full ref-gaming mode today, hammering away at the idea that PBS' Gwen Ifill can't possibly be a fair moderator for the Biden-Palin debate because she will be releasing a book this January that's apparently pro-Obama.
But a few moments ago, John McCain said on Fox News that he has no problem with her moderating at all...
"I think that Gwen Ifill is a professional, and I think she will do a totally objective job, because she is a highly-respected professional," McCain said.
The McCain campaign has apparently been saying they didn't know about Ifill's book. But as Michael Calderone notes, the book has been public for quite some time now.
At bottom, though, debating whether there's any merit in the attack on Ifill is beside the point, because as this is really just a transparent game, of course. The criticism is about trying to spook the moderators into going easy on Palin -- a "time-honored form of pre-debate spin," as Ben Smith put it.
What's more, as a Republican operative points out to me in a moment of candor, the existence of the book is potentially helpful to McCain, because it gives McCain supporters a way of retroactively cushioning the blow for Palin, should she pull yet another homina homina homina in response to any Ifill question, as is her wont.
"If I were an Obama supporter, i would see this as a bigger problem for me than for Palin," the GOP operative tells me. "Now any line of questioning can be dismissed as the product of an obviously biased moderator."
Get it?
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS!!!
October 1, 2008 3:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Indeed.
October 1, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
The problem is that if -- nay -- WHEN Palin crashes and burns at the debate, the right-wingers will all claim that it was Ifill's fault (somehow). They will use it as an excuse to explain away the shortcomings of their veep candidate.
http://thepajamapundit.com/
October 1, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
So what? They will complain regardless. That's their MO. The only people who will buy that "life is so unfair" garbage are those already committed to Palin.
October 1, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
They can try. Just as they've explained the Couric fiasco as being the result of "gotcha journalism." No one's buying. Not even many of their own (mostly the ones with a brain).
October 1, 2008 5:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
oops...FOR MCCAIN!!!!
October 1, 2008 4:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't worry about the wingnuts. They already have plenty of excuses; it doesn't matter that most of them are non-factual. Replacing one of those with this one won't make a hill o' beans of difference.
And you know where whining about the refs will get ya...
Also, the people whose opinions are swayed by watching this debate aren't likely to even hear about subsequent wingnut whining. They're not the kind of people who go for inside baseball.
October 1, 2008 3:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hell's bells, they don't even really need excuses. Excuses are what you offer when you fail, and the real wing-nuts are positively incapable of recognizing when they fail. Did anyone else go and look at the NRO blogs in the immediate wake of the last debate. They were all crowing about how John McCain hit it out of the park and Obama struck out every time he came to the plate. Even when the pundit responses started trickling in with poor reviews for McCain, they simply brushed them off as "typical MSM elitism."
I think that we can confidently predict that by this time Friday Redstate, LGF, Free Republic, the NRO & al will be gushing about how "authentic" and "patriotic" Palin seemed, oblivious entirely to anything in her performance that might need "excusing."
October 1, 2008 3:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
If they really cared about this, they would have brought it up yesterday, or the day before, or the week before, or the month before. Someone was sitting on this. They wanted the debate to go through with this moderator, and they wanted to whine about it as it happened.
And you know where whining about the refs will get ya...
... everywhere? Judging from the last eight months anyway...
October 1, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, whining about the refs can get you some traction with the refs. But I think McSame has pissed them off so badly that it won't work anymore.
And whining about the refs plays poorly with the viewers. It makes you seem weak. (See: Congressional Dems the last eight years)
October 1, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
The interesting this is that with a broken ankle, Ifill is actually going to appear the heroine as a Moderator. So, maybe since mcShame has played the hero card so many times, he feels obliged to say it's ok. She'll be like a wounded soldier (even if the break happened at home last night) and that should deflect some criticism away from her.
Also, mcShame so belittled the press (Gotcha Journalism) that maybe now he feels obliged to make nice. In hope she won't skewer his partner and soul mate (in Lying).
October 1, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
should read: "The interesting thing"
October 1, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sure I get it - every day is backwards day for Repugs.
That's really all you have to know.
October 1, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love Backwards Day! Let's make it a national holiday.
October 1, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think my head is going to explode.
Is the book a biography of Obama? Hmmmmm?
Is the author of any book that mentions Obama now automatically in the tank for Obama?
I understand what the Repubs are doing. And, I've made a real effort to discard reason, rationality, and critical thinking when trying to judge what they're doing. But this is too much for me.
October 1, 2008 3:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Boo, they already turned the constitution inside out and upside down - I am not kidding when I say every day is backwards day for them. It really is.
They say the most outrageous illogical shit about statutes and the constitution and it's all inside out and backwards.
It's bizarre. If I was religious, I might honestly think they are working for Satan.
October 1, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hmmmm, now that Obama's within SINGLE DIGITS of McCain in Arizona, how big will that kitchen sink to be thrown at Obama get??
October 1, 2008 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
AZ is gonna go blue. AZure blue.
October 1, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Really? I have been so hoping that might happen. I'd love that - that reverses the "Gore didn't even win his home state" meme if that happens.
October 1, 2008 3:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sitting between 2 blue states... what a beautiful thing that would be on the electoral map. Not to speak of a lovely stake in the heart of mcLiar.
October 1, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
McSame has pissed off a huge number of AZ Republicans during his tenure there.
October 1, 2008 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
O goody!
goodygoodygoodygoody!
but then, why would I even for a minute not already think so - he's pissed off most of the Repugs in the senate. He's isn't well liked anywhere.
October 1, 2008 4:19 PM | Reply | Permalink
More to the point, McCain is under 50% in his home state. That has to be making him sweat bullets.
And thinking of surprisingly encouraging results, does everyone notice that Noriega is within striking distance of Cornyn (who is himself not above 50%). Dare we hope that the good citizens of Texas might yet rid this republic of that clown?
October 1, 2008 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
I love you.
Noriega has been in striking distance throughout the campaign almost.
IT's just that everyone - everyone, greg, eric, josh - ignores Texas.
I know this isn't a Texas blog, but come on - that's big damn news that the Repugs have lost that much ground. Jesus - y'all talk about Mississippi.
October 1, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
You make a good point about the strange way we all just take it for granted that Texas belongs to the Republicans. You certainly do not see the Republicans adopting the same sort of complacency with regard to California; John McCain made it a point to use his connections to Gov Schwartzenegger to make a bid for the Golden State. Obviously he is not going to succeed at that, but clearly the GOP are thinking long term about the advantages to be had from flipping CA red. We ought to be taking the same approach to Texas. Indeed, it seems that the climb for us to take Texas would be a darn site less steep than the climb for the GOP to take California, given that growth of the Hispanic electorate and the influx of black democrats from Louisiana in the wake of Katrina has done much of the heavy lifting for us on that task. It is almost certainly too late for us to invest the necessary resources to flip TX blue in 2008, but hopefully Pres Obama will make a serious bid for the state when he runs for re-election in 2012.
October 1, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
Noriega is an outstanding candidate and will make a great senator, but he still needs money to match Cornyn's tv ads.
Go give Rick some money!
October 1, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I finally saw a Cornyn ad last night. Very wierd: had him in a black sweater, grey hair blowing in the breeze, profile view on a stark TX landscape with the words, "common sense".
October 1, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
"common cents" might be a better slogan for repubs than "common sense."
October 1, 2008 3:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
I wouldn't worry too much about this. No way Gwen Ifill is going to come off as unprofessional.
October 1, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama didn't complain about George Stephanopoulos being a moderator for the primary debate, even though George worked for Bill (and by inference Hillary) Clinton on the campaign trail and in the WH during the nineties.
This is just one more attempt to by McCain, to scuttle the VP debate but it won't work. He's getting the reputation of a manipulator, whiner, and scape-goater, the opposite of his Mr. Hero persona.
October 1, 2008 3:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Big difference.
Obama = Smart.
McCain = Stooopid.
October 1, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Even bigger difference:
Biden = very smart
Palin = what is dumber than dumb?
October 1, 2008 3:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
Right now I'm going back and forth between Sean Hannity and Dana Perino.
October 1, 2008 3:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Simpleton!!!
October 1, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Box of hair?
Bag of sticks?
October 1, 2008 6:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
But they had a big falling-out after Stephanopolous left and wrote his kiss-n-tell book.
October 1, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gwen is a real journalist, scholarly in bent and a true pro. She suffers not fools lightly. Nuff said.
Now as to whether Tom Brokow should be kept on after the NYT piece on his work with the McCain camp,,,,,, an entirely different matter. I think he should recuse himself.
October 1, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
When was the piece?
October 1, 2008 3:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
And she's black too...so there!!! This is like watching my 7 year old create some story so about why the glass broke.
October 1, 2008 3:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
But that's just it - does the McCain campaign realize yet that Ifill is, you know, um, (whispers) black?
Wouldn't surprise me if they either don't know, or if they do, on Thursday night they walk into the studio, do a double-take and cancel because she's obviously an Obama partisan, and how could they have known?
Hoping for the latter, myself.
October 1, 2008 3:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm attempting HTML on TPM for the first time. Forgive me if this is a garbled mess.
Reviews of Gwen Ifill's performance in the 2004 VP debate from Free Republic:
So, is the MRC going to apologize for misjudging Ifill's professionalism?
I thought Gwen Ifill did a very good job, aside from the occassional mix-up on who was due to speak. She made Lehrer look like a boob.
As to the debate, Gwen Ifill (sp?)did a very good job. I was very pleased with her...
I agree. She did good and asked some tough questions to Edwards.
You know, I'm as quick and ready as anyone to quick-draw on the unsubtle and subtle displays of bias -- but I thought last night Gwen was about as even-handed as one could hope. She asked Cheney tough ones, AND she asked Edwards tough ones. She even directly quoted Kerry after Edwards lied about what he'd said.
I expected to be sicked, and ended up impressed.
Gwen Iifil was fair enough by my standards. Far better than Jim Lehrer hwo had no probing questions for John Kerry's track record.
And Right Wing News:
I think Gwen Ifill is doing a far superior job to Jim Lehrer. She's actually making Edwards answer some relevant questions.
Gwen Ifill is nailing Edwards on the allies thing? Gwen, Gwen, Gwen, you are doing the job a moderator should...
Gwen Ifill "Well (30 seconds) is what you got". Best. Moderator. Ever. Lovin' her.
Gwen Ifill nailed Edwards on the experience thing? She rocks so hard! I don't remember the last time a MSM person other than Tim Russert actually made these clowns answer hard questions. I'll be interested to see the Democratic reaction to her questions....
Gwen Ifill is the best moderator EVER. Every future moderator should aspire to be like here...which of course means all the liberals will probably complain about her.
October 1, 2008 3:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great post. Love the avatar, too.
October 1, 2008 3:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for doing that research.
I regularly download the Washington Week in Review podcast, and Ifill is so down the middle it often frustrates the heck out of me. Believe me, she more than gives the Republican side its due. The GOP will have no legitimate complaints about her.
October 1, 2008 3:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not like this book is new news anyway.
October 1, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
I like Gwen Ifil and I'm sure she'll do a professional job. But I am so sick of hearing that woman(Palin)'s voice that I wish ANY moderator would just leap across the stage and rip out her jugular.
October 1, 2008 3:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
You and me both. That voice and that accept coupled together works on me just like fingernails on a blackboard. I have real thing about people's voices.
Obama has an awesome voice. Biden has a good voice. Clinton has a good voice - Hillary needs a little moderation once in awhile, but she's basically got a good voice, too. She goes nasal occasionally, but I found out when I went to Ireland that all us Americans talk through our noses
Except of course for Native Americans, who sound to me as though they have an extra timbre in their voices - they project from the chest. Wish I could.
October 1, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
voice and accent
damn rented fingers!
October 1, 2008 3:40 PM | Reply | Permalink
You can, it just takes work.
October 1, 2008 8:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, because that "media bias" thing is so persuasive to people who aren't already totally in the McPowlin bag.
October 1, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
O "McPowlin" - I likes that!
October 1, 2008 3:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's playing good cop while he is allowing Drudge/FOXNews/GOP to play bad cop.
Very Rovian.
October 1, 2008 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very disappointing too.
While I hesitate to go there, this has some ugly, racial overtones meant to:
1) Stir up controversy and put doubts in people's minds about the fairness of the debate.
2) Add some racial politics to make it all the more hot button.
I would think that the DC punditry would react badly to this.
October 1, 2008 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pretty much. They should just switch moderators.
October 1, 2008 3:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
I disagree. You don't know how much Gwen Ifill is respected among those in the media. If the GOP tries to throw her under the bus, there will be huge pushback. She's the perfect moderator for this debate, which is why they're shitting their pants.
October 1, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
If the question is "How should the government approach health care and those who are uninsured," how can anyone make a case that the question was biased toward Obama that would make sense to the undecideds.
October 1, 2008 4:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is posted up near the top of the thread and I can't say it any better:
October 1, 2008 3:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
Caving to Rovian style tactics is not an option.
Again, Obama agreed to George Stepho moderating a primary debate between himself and Clinton, without going drama queen.
If he can do it, so can McCain.
October 1, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin's problem is not biased questions. Her problem is with perfectly straightforward questions that aim right at the heart of her past bamboozlements. Explain your foreign policy experience. What do you read. What should we do about Pakistan? What is your position on the bailout? Do you agree with the president's war on terrorism?
This shit was right down the middle of the plate. It's the bread and butter of national politics and those who would pretend to lead. there are 535 in Congress who could have answered everyone of those questions perfectly reasonably.
Look carefully at her answers on the Hugh Hewitt radio show. She just can't explain stuff and she can't help but rely on the stupidest tropes on right wing orthodoxy to get her out of trouble.
October 1, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
And if she can't even do it on the radio... where people could easily be shoving her file cards with ideas...
You put it so well!
October 1, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Exactly.
And she does it all in very poor English, to boot!
October 1, 2008 4:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
In the 2004 vice presidential debate, moderator Gwen Ifill asked a total of 20 questions of Dick Cheney and John Edwards. Nine of which were deemed as foreign policy, 11 domestic policy. Take note that one foreign policy question was, would it be a dangerous thing to have John Kerry as president and another was asked whether the Kerry/Edwards plan to internationalize the effort in Iraq seemed kind of naive.
Also three of the domestic policy questions were directly about John Edwards (Being a trial lawyer is Edwards part of the problem, as a trail lawyer do you feel personally attacked, and what qualifies you to be a heartbeat away). Another question was about flip-flopping, a Bush talking point.
October 1, 2008 3:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
That was actually not a good performance on her part.
October 1, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Compare this Wed to last Wed. We had mcShame running amok every few hours. Calling off his campaign. Dissing Letterman. Dissing Obama's offer that they present a bi-partisan front.
We were all turning like windmills in a storm last Wed. But today.... much quieter. Even the mcSham announcement is desperately trying to backpedal from the manic, hyperemotional mcCain of last Wed.
Just reminds me again of why I love Obama. He has never given us a disruptive day. Or a shameful VP running mate. Or treated us with contempt.
Worth the comparison. One week to the next. One candidate from the next.
October 1, 2008 3:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not only that - the Democratic Party is as united and as strong as I've seen it since - hell - forever. The Repug Party is at war with itself, there are at leat 3 factions, maybe more, and more than one front. None of the Repugs like their candidates. If it's a Fundie Repug, they only like Palin. I don't think anyone likes McLame, frankly.
October 1, 2008 3:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hizzoner the Diva.... is not liked, except by those lobbyists. And probably they don't like him either. They just "use" him and look down on him like a cheap date the morning after.
October 1, 2008 4:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
as middlenames above as well as Nate Silver and Sullivan have said, why not switch moderators? any kind of curveball helps biden.
funny debate slideshow
October 1, 2008 3:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'll be awfully surprised if they do that. In the first place, she broke her ankle and still headed down to the debate and she has some stature.
It's not happening so we might as well just sit back and watch what happens. Everyone was so convinced that Katie Couric would toss marshmallows and roses at Palin, too.
October 1, 2008 3:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yup, with the broken ankle and all, there can be no whining - she's the first string... playing right through an injury. More power to her!
October 1, 2008 4:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The sad thing is that she did toss marshmallows and roses at Palin.
October 1, 2008 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, yes and no. At least Katie didn't let her get away with non-answers. I personally think Couric has won the big brass pair trophy.
October 1, 2008 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
it's not a question about replacing ifill cause she'd throw softballs, more like calling mcCain's bluff. i don't have a problem with ifill, but if mcCain thinks he can work the refs, and then palin has to face a moderator she's not prepared for -- it just makes a true meltdown more likely.
October 1, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's all well and good and sure, I'd love to throw Palin off even more.
I just don't see it happening.
October 1, 2008 4:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
But if Obama agreed to a change, he would be stabbing Gwen Ifill in the back. The subtle message would be, black journalists can't be fair and professional. It will never happen.
Obama is the kind of person who takes the long view. If the VP debate doesn't get the spin he's hoping for, my sense is that he'd rather hang on to his integrity, than do something that goes against his principles.
If he loses the perception battle by not demanding Ifill's replacement, so be it. He'll still win the war.
October 1, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
The only positive thing I'll say about keeping Ifill as moderator is that she might come to the debate with a chip on her shoulder and that's not going to end well for Palin.
October 1, 2008 4:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
The contrast between the 2 women could not be sharper.
Palin isn't even in the same knife drawer!
October 1, 2008 4:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not Ifill's job, but I bet she could easily butcher a Mooselini.
October 1, 2008 4:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I don't see how caving is good for Obama. It would be an admission that, just because an African American woman writes a book on race, that means she's automatically disqualified from moderating a debate.
He'd probably dye his hair blonde before he would do something like that.
October 1, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Of course the McCain camp has known about it for weeks, and of course they were going to wait til TODAY to whine about it!
October 1, 2008 4:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's the description of the book from Amazon - yeah, it's on Amazon. Hardly what I would call an Obama "fan" book:
"The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama
In THE BREAKTHROUGH, veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.
Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during the Civil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men and women who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the 1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama, and also covers up-and-coming figures from across the nation. Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the "black enough" conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history.
THE BREAKTHROUGH is a remarkable look at contemporary politics and an essential foundation for understanding the future of American democracy."
This is political analysis of the post-Obama era. Nobody, on any side, can deny that Obama's candidacy has changed the face of politics, especially for black Americans and black politicians. It's not an Obama bio or fan book - in fact, he's only one of the players in the book. (along with Colin Powell)
Sean Wilentz wrote The Age of Reagan. Does that make him a wingnut Reagan fanatic?
October 1, 2008 4:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
O excellent!
October 1, 2008 4:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here's a funny piece from 23/6 about Biden prepping for the debate (warning, do not have any type of liquid in your mouth while clicking through the pictures . . .
:-P
October 1, 2008 4:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is wonderful!!! (and agree with the warning)
October 1, 2008 10:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thinking back over the Couric interviews it has struck me that as Katie went along, she dumbed her questions down and Sarah never failed to fall to meet Katie's expectations until Katie dares to get alllll the way down to: what newspapers and magazines do you read.
Katie knew she'd freeze on that one - she knew it. She took us through quite the tour of Miss Alaska Runner-up's tiny little brain.
October 1, 2008 4:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yep, the next logical question would have been:
"What's your favorite color?"
October 1, 2008 5:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Palin would answer:
October 1, 2008 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Gwen Ifill is not a hack. If they think they can use her book as a cushion to soften Palin's inevitbale idiocy, then I think it'll backfire.
Ifill is a woman and she's got kinky hair too. They do not want to go there.
October 1, 2008 4:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
If Ifill is anywhere near as likable in person as she is on TV, she probably has many friends among the jurnos and pundits in Washington. This actually could backfire for McCain with the people who shape and report the news. She's one of them.
October 1, 2008 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
The GOP accepts Ifill as a debate moderator and then complain about her every 4 years!
Ifill's book is descriptive of Obama's rise and black politicians generally. It is NOT pro-Obama.
See the difference?
As long as Ifill isn't spooked into going easy on Palin, this insider baseball working-the-refs won't work because most swing voters won't know or won't care.
October 1, 2008 4:49 PM | Reply | Permalink
jaysus christ on a bike, Gwen's middle name is polite.
Please let them complain. My response is "So you think Putin gonna be fair or ask questions like Hannity?"
October 1, 2008 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Tim Russert must have thought highly of her, otherwise she wouldn't have been on his program so much, even to the point of being a substitute host.
October 1, 2008 5:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Obama campaign should have demanded another moderator.
October 1, 2008 5:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
In Ms Ifill's defense, any book, with even a pretense of being fact based, would have to flow the comparision between Obama and the insane bastard with the dead eyes of a shark towards Obama.
Ifill at least pretends during her day job to occasionally pay attention to the fact-based reality.
I think that McInsane is spinning wildly to provide any and all reasons for Palin's inadequate performance in advance . . . Except that Palin is an insane, lying, recessivist fascist plutocrat . . . Of course . . .
October 1, 2008 5:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hey -- folks are raising a dust about Tom Brokaw being too much pro-McCain?? I've got an idea. If she's going on only "friendly" interviews from now on, she should be signed up for "Meet the Press". Don't you think?
October 1, 2008 10:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Any bets how far Ifill will lean over backwards to prove that she is "fair"? This choice of moderator plays into the McCain/Palin team's hands very well. Not only is Ifill likely to go softer on Palin by asking predictable questions, but this gives McCain the perfect excuse to cry "gottcha media".
October 2, 2008 10:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Is this another example of McCain's people failing to vet someone? Is this the kind of slackoff work we can expect from a McCain Administration when it comes to SCOTUS appointments?
October 2, 2008 12:11 PM | Reply | Permalink