the moderator was horrible

[blueknight]

she let that blabbering idiot go off on tangent without ever asking her to ANSWER THE QUESTION! where is sam donaldson when you need him?

[liberal N proud]

1. That is because the McCain campaign attacked her before the debate

Tried to pin bias on her before the debate so she had to handle Sarah with kid gloves.

Darn tootin

[riverdeep]

6. Which was their strategy going in.

That's why they approved her beforehand. So they could cast doubts about her right before the debate and effectively neutralize her. If she went after Palin, the easy ploy was 'look how biased she is'. These people don't know how to win honestly, so they manipulate and duck.

[gademocrat7]

2. I agree

Gwen should have told palin to answer the question being asked.

[tom_paine]

3. A keystone of Bushie media neutralization: "Bill Parcell's 'Working the Ref'.

Nice strategy for a meaningles (but FUN) football game.

Not so good where the well-being of millions of supposedly free citizens who depend on infromation to make infromed decisions.

But in either case, it's just the usual (yawn) Bill Parcell's Working the Ref Bushie Media Neutralization Strategy.

Which basically comes down to this Yell at them when you're right. Yell at them when you're wrong. Do not relent for a second. Don't let ANYTHING interefere with your dogged pursuit.

Even though in the service of totalitarian evil, one has to admire such dogged indefatigability these Bushies display. As the 1930s Germans could tell you, it's hard to outwork crazies who have been ultra-motivated by a mad tyrant.

And that doesn't even cover the deep deep rivers of Bushie Criminality, which having such a band of conscience-less crazies at it's beck and call also confers a wide range of options for the Bushies that the Left doesn't really have (even if we wanted to...there are always exceptions).

So yes, I expected Ifill to be appropriately cowed. After all the Bushie Nazi-Style Noise Machine had been screaming at her for at least a week. Not many have the spine to resist that, considering the very real consequences Bushies often bring, either up-front or sneaky retribution-type shit that goies after Ifill or perhaps her family members to fuck with THEIR lives (Bushies have been known to try to destroy the careers of family members of those who oppose them, as retribution).

[AndyA]

4. Yes, I was disappointed in Gwen as well.

She did not moderate very well because she did not make the candidates answer the questions asked. At one point, she stated that neither of them answered the question, but she didn't stick with it and force them to respond. :shrug:

[KharmaTrain]

5. She Played Traffic Cop

That's all she should have been. The format was different than the first debate and didn't allow for any cross-examination. Also, this debate was supposed to cover in one debate what the others are covering in three...so she was moving the questions in and out as quickly as she could.

I thought Ifill did a pretty good job...it's not her responsibility to play fact checker...and the many non-answers from Grandma Barracuda were so obvious, there was even little need for Senator Biden to point it out...let the corporate media do that (and they have).

A debate is like a job interview...each person takes away something different. The key is how much information is presented.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. Right, I imagine the changes that were asked for and given in terms of the debate format

must have precluded Ifill from doing follow-up questions.

[KharmaTrain]

8. Yes They Were...

I heard someone last week refer to the rules as a "game show"...thus it was more like a spelling bee than a true debate.

Also, the time structure is real tight...she had to cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time and keep both politicians from doing what they like to do best...talk.

Cheers...