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: 08-31-2003
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:26pm

If Obama wins, the book will be in higher demand.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-22-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:28pm

>>> Yes, she did have that responsibility. And McCain had the responsibility to find out more. Both screwed up.

Wrong. It was up to Iffil to be honest...she wasn't...and for the Debate Committee to vet her...they obviously didn't. It's NOT the responsibility of the McCain campaign.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2007
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:33pm
I think

Sopal

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:33pm

>>If Obama wins, the book will be in higher demand.

That's basically what you said before. I'm asking why you think so.

>>No, but a book about black politicians and the accomplishments of Obama is going to be in demand when the first black politician is elected to the presidency.

Or it could be in high demand because he loses the election. The book is about blacks in politics. Not how a black man wins the presidency. I believe that the book is relevant regardless, since the book is about history itself, not a particular outcome in history. I'd like to know specifically why others believe that it will be more relevant if he wins. Couldn't the book illustrate why he didn't win? (Not specifically but through the lens of history.)

Laura

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:36pm

>>It's NOT the responsibility of the McCain campaign.

Why wasn't it the campaign's responsibility to make sure the debate was fair? They negotiated the terms of the debate, including approving Ifill. If they're now saying it was unfair, they should have done a better job looking into Ifill's recent work. And apparently that wouldn't have been hard. It wasn't a secret.

Note that I'm not saying they were wholly responsible. Ifill shirked her responsibility as well.

Laura

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-08-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:39pm
BUT, eleeel, What has he (Obama)
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-15-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:43pm

Great piece from Newsweek on this very topic - Pre-Spin.


http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/racetothefinish/archive/2008/10/01/the-biden-palin-debate-pre-spin.aspx



Here are some of the preemptively deflationary spin lines:



  • Poor Sarah is/was over-prepared. This is the Karl Rove theory—that Steve Schmidt and the other debate briefers, who carted Palin off to Sedona for three days of prep work, filled her head with too many canned responses and a catalogue of facts. In the process, they stifled the “real” Palin—the Palin who lit up the night at the Republican convention in St. Paul last month. Of course that appearance was a carefully scripted speech. So it’s unclear whether that was the “real” Palin, or whether the “real” Palin will reveal herself Thursday night.


  • She is the tribune of “Joe Sixpack America.” As such, Palin’s leadership qualities cannot fairly or appropriately be measured in a debate like this one. Palin herself has made this argument. Not only is it unfair to expect her to have Biden’s level of detailed knowledge; it’s the wrong way to judge her, since her most worthy quality is that she is “one of us.”

  • The Media are biased: Look at the debate moderator. This is the latest pre-spin, though John McCain’s campaign itself is loath to get anywhere near the specifics. Debate moderate Gwen Ifill of PBS has a book coming out on Inauguration Day about the new generation of African-American political leaders. It’s called “The Breakthrough,” and one of the figures she focuses on is Obama. Conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity argue that the book presents a hopeless conflict, in that Ifill (whether she wants to admit it or not) favors Obama because a victory by him in November will boost her books sales. They may have a point, at least about appearances. But Ifill is highly respected, fiercely independent—and in the tank for no one. I asked a top McCain advisor what he planned to do about the situation and he had a one-word answer: “nothing.” But let’s see how the debate goes—and see if he sticks to his word not to bring it up. If the debate goes badly for Palin, my bet is that we’ll hear this one in the spin room Thursday night.

  • She should have quit the race by now. This isn’t an intentional lowering of expectations by the McCain camp and its allies; rather, it’s a cluster of conservatives, led by George Will, who were mortified by her apparent lack of knowledge. Those feelings were only solidified by the governor’s devastating interviews with Katie Couric. At this point, it’s conventional wisdom that Palin isn’t ready for prime time. So it will be a form of victory if she merely makes it onto the stage in St. Louis.




iVillage Member
Registered: 07-15-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:44pm

She has the ability to give each candidate the questions she wants, which can easily mean giving Biden questions that he will have no problem answering, and Palin questions that could be a problem for her.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-26-2008
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:46pm

I highly doubt an acomplished and well respected journalist as Mrs. Ifill would put her career and reputation on the line

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2003
Thu, 10-02-2008 - 1:57pm
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