Gwen Ifill - VP Debate Moderator
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| 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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>>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.
Well that's just a silly argument.
Laura
How on earth can you compare Gwen Ifill to Ann Coulter? Ifill is a journalist. Coulter is a commentator. They're not even in the same profession, much less league.
I'm not qualified to answer your question about Biden's foreign policy experience. However I do believe that Obama has shown leadership. My definition of this will probably vary from others'. First, he was president of the Harvard Law Review. He worked as a community organizer. He was in the Illinois Senate and is now a U.S. Senator. I think he showed great leadership last and this weeks with the bailout crisis. I thought his speech earlier this week was brilliant.
>>Is Obama anything more than a media created empty suit.
Yes, as are all of the other candidates. Do you have reason to believe otherwise? If so, please share the details.
Laura
>>> 2. Because of said bias, she can still ask "fair" questions of both candidates. However, the content of the questions can be something that makes Biden look good, and Palin look bad. But they can still be "fair" questions.
Here's an example where you may be right...
Ifill’s questions in the vice presidential debate in 2004 displayed an undeniable bias against Vice President Cheney.
For example, she pressed Cheney to attack Democratic nominee John Edwards personally: "President Bush has derided John Kerry for putting a trial lawyer on the ticket. You yourself have said that lawsuits are partly to blame for higher medical costs. Are you willing to say that John Edwards, sitting here, has been part of the problem?"
Ifill then turned around and asked the Democrat if he was feeling pained at the attack she had just requested: "Senator Edwards, new question to you, same topic. Do you feel personally attacked when Vice President Cheney talks about liability reform and tort reform and the president talks about having a trial lawyer on the ticket?"
The PBS host also pressed Cheney with a Tim Russert-style question on Iran: "Mr. Vice President, in June of 2000 when you were still CEO of Halliburton, you said that U.S. businesses should be allowed to do business with Iran because, quote, ‘Unilateral sanctions almost never work.’ After four years as Vice President now, and with Iran having been declared by your administration as part of the ‘Axis of Evil,’ do you still believe that we should lift sanctions on Iran?" Cheney said no, and that in 2000, he was talking about unilateral sanctions, not universal sanctions. Some viewers were put off after the Edwards counterattack, when Cheney said "I can respond, Gwen, but it's going to take more than 30 seconds," and she said "Well, that's all you've got." She said Democrats loved it ("they thought I was being snippy"), but she said that wasn’t her intent.
When Ifill turned to Edwards for a question on Israel policy, there wasn’t an equally tough question for him. She said the U.S. seemed sadly "absent" under Bush: "Today, a senior member of Islamic Jihad was killed in Gaza. There have been suicide bombings, targeted assassinations, mortar attacks, all of this continuing at a time when the United States seems absent in the peace-making process. What would your administration do?"
Ifill’s toughest question to Edwards underlined that he had the least governmental experience of any vice-presidential nominee since 1976. She also pressed Edwards from the left on Kerry’s promise not to raise taxes and their opposition to gay marriage. But her last question seemed designed to aid Kerry: "Senator Kerry changed his mind about whether to vote to authorize the President to go to war. President Bush changed his mind about whether a Homeland Security department was a good idea or a 9/11 Commission was a good idea. What's wrong with a little flip-flop every now and then?"
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2008/10/01/gwen-ifill-pro-obama-anti-palin
Yes, she did have that responsibility. And McCain had the responsibility to find out more. Both screwed up.
Laura
It's called conflict of interest.
>>It's called conflict of interest. Ifill stands to gain monetarily if Obama wins this election b/c she is writing a book about him.
I have asked this question a half-dozen times or so, but no one has answered me. How will she benefit financially if Obama wins? If the book is good, she'll make money regardless. History has already been made. Sales of her book are not dependent on the outcome of this election.
Can someone please explain why this argument is repeated over and over again? It's not logical.
Laura
Great examples, that's exactly what I was talking about.
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