Gwen Ifill - VP Debate Moderator

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-12-2008
Gwen Ifill - VP Debate Moderator
106
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:15am

Debate moderators were chosen in August.   If McCain camp had a problem with Ifill as moderator, they've had a looooong time to object.   No, Ifill will be one of many excuses they can use when Palin bombs.


Re: Gwen Ifill's book, one needs to look no further than the conservative Washington Times, which published an article about said book on JULY 23rd, long before either potential Veep had been selected. I do not know when Ifill was chosen to moderate this debate, but the fact of the matter is that any idiot in McCain's camp could have googled Gwen Ifill and received this information and had they thought it a "conflict of interest" requested another moderator two months ago.


To those saying the debate has been "fixed", well - um - the debate hasn't even taken place yet.  Hmmm, apparently you don't have much confidence in Sarah Palin.  You shoul dbe cheering her on instead of preparing for failure.


tsk tsk


 




 


 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 10:49am
Sam Harris has some thoughts on the subject:

Palin may be a perfectly wonderful person, a loving mother and a great American success story—but she is a beauty queen/sports reporter who stumbled into small-town politics, and who is now on the verge of stumbling into, or upon, world history.

The problem, as far as our political process is concerned, is that half the electorate revels in Palin's lack of intellectual qualifications. When it comes to politics, there is a mad love of mediocrity in this country. "They think they're better than you!" is the refrain that (highly competent and cynical) Republican strategists have set loose among the crowd, and the crowd has grown drunk on it once again. "Sarah Palin is an ordinary person!" Yes, all too ordinary.

We have all now witnessed apparently sentient human beings, once provoked by a reporter's microphone, saying things like, "I'm voting for Sarah because she's a mom. She knows what it's like to be a mom." Such sentiments suggest an uncanny (and, one fears, especially American) detachment from the real problems of today. The next administration must immediately confront issues like nuclear proliferation, ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (and covert wars elsewhere), global climate change, a convulsing economy, Russian belligerence, the rise of China, emerging epidemics, Islamism on a hundred fronts, a defunct United Nations, the deterioration of American schools, failures of energy, infrastructure and Internet security … the list is long, and Sarah Palin does not seem competent even to rank these items in order of importance, much less address any one of them.

Palin's most conspicuous gaffe in her interview with Gibson has been widely discussed. The truth is, I didn't much care that she did not know the meaning of the phrase "Bush doctrine." And I am quite sure that her supporters didn't care, either. Most people view such an ambush as a journalistic gimmick. What I do care about are all the other things Palin is guaranteed not to know—or will be glossing only under the frenzied tutelage of John McCain's advisers. What doesn't she know about financial markets, Islam, the history of the Middle East, the cold war, modern weapons systems, medical research, environmental science or emerging technology? Her relative ignorance is guaranteed on these fronts and most others, not because she was put on the spot, or got nervous, or just happened to miss the newspaper on any given morning. Sarah Palin's ignorance is guaranteed because of how she has spent the past 44 years on earth.


....(much more at link)

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-16-2006
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 11:26am

Just to clarify -- Gwen Ifill, herself, has admitted that she did not specifically disclose her upcoming book to the Commission. However, as you pointed out -- it was widely known & prominently discussed since her selection as moderator for this debate. She had a big interview in TIME magazine about a week after her selection as moderator, where she discussed her book. She is a seasoned & well-respected professional by all interests/parties. Remember, she did moderate the 2004 Cheney-Edwards VP debate, so she comes w/past experience and stellar credentials as a qualified moderator.

Some of the posters keep saying that her upcoming book is about Obama -- only a small part of it is -- it's about several black politicians that are currently in relevant political positions and was in the works long before Obama was even chosen as the Democratic nominee for President.

Obviously, all this 'chatter' is just politics at work. At this point, everyone is expecting record viewers will be tuned in tonight to observe the VP candidates face-to-face. We know that both candidates have been 'boning' up on their information/knowledge to prepare for a wide range of possible questions. It's not over 'till it's over!

cheers, HB

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-08-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 11:47am

It is no surprise that Ifill is a liberal propagandist as is most of the media,

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 11:52am

>>It is no surprise that Ifill is a liberal propagandist as is most of the media

I'd really like to see some evidence of this. Thanks.

Laura

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 11:53am

>>Just to clarify -- Gwen Ifill, herself, has admitted that she did not specifically disclose her upcoming book to the Commission.

Thanks for clarifying that.

Laura

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 12:08pm

McCain has flip-flopped on the issue of Ifill.

Sopal

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-25-2006
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 12:08pm

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Do you HONESTLY think McCain & Company did not know about the book? Do you think his campaign managers are that stupid that they wouldn't investigate her thoroughly before letting McCain agree to having her as moderator?

McCain's team is way too calculating and crafty. They knew the public would be outraged at the thought of her being moderator, and they knew that it would arouse the "dumb average American" to sympathize with and rally around her. This whole hullabaloo about her being an unfair moderator was planned as a way to force Gwen to go easy on Palin. And THAT is the ONLY reason I would like to see her step aside and let someone else be moderator tonight.

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http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 12:12pm

You're right; she didn't disclose it specifically, apparently.

I suspect she also didn't disclose that she, too, is black - just like Obama - and female - just like Palin, either, on the theory that anything which is plainly visible anyone who wishes to look needn't be specifically disclosed.


iVillage Member
Registered: 09-25-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 12:15pm
Interesting; hadn't seen that one yet. McCain flip-flops yet again. Which McCain should we believe? The one who said it wasn't a problem, or the one who's now pre-excusing his running mate's failure?

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-15-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 12:23pm
OMG, you and Janetlz are far more politically savvy than I am.

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