Ifill’s performance draws praise
For all of the talk about Gwen Ifill’s potential conflict, the veteran journalist’s performance as moderator of last night’s vice-presidential debate was well-received.
This from Foon Rhee, a Boston Globe political editor writing on the paper’s blog:
The biggest winner in the vice presidential debate might not have been either candidate.
The moderator, Gwen Ifill of PBS, was questioned by some – and savaged by conservative commentators — because she is writing a book that features Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. Her critics suggested she might go soft on Obama’s running mate, Joe Biden, and be tough on GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, because her book, set to be published on Inauguration Day in January, would sell better if Obama were the one taking the oath of office that day.
Ifill, however, is receiving high marks for equal treatment of the candidates, though she allowed both to make speeches sometimes rather than specifically answer questions.
In a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll of debate watchers, 95 percent said Ifill, a 1977 graduate of Simmons College in Boston, treated the candidates fairly, while only 4 percent said she was unfair.
James Rainey, a media writer for the Los Angeles Times, said ifill “demonstrated abundant dignity as referee of the much-anticipated debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.”
“The veteran newswoman lived up, in every sense, to her title: moderator,” Rainey wrote. “She directed the candidates to important topics, pushed to keep them on subject and betrayed no favoritism.”
I was one that didn’t think Ifill should moderate the debate. After watching the debate, you could have had Barack himself mediate and I wouldn’t have cared.
Can we please stop calling them debates? When prepared questions are given and answered with prepared remarks, there is very little debating involved.
My answer…..All candidates sitting on stage, 10 random people chosen from the audience ask questions and each candidate answers. Then each candidate gets time to respond to attacks.
Actually, Ifill’s potential conflict of interest was a huge problem because I think she was afraid to interrupt when Palin refused to answer her questions. Palin changed the subject at will, and flat out refused to answer a couple of questions, and Ifill never followed up.
She’s writing a book about Barry Obama scheduled for release on what she hopes will be his Inauguration Day. And you media people wonder why we think you’re all liberal!
If she had written a book about McCain every employee at the Post-Dispatch would have been required to block her from entering the facility by any means necessary.
You guys are too much!
I thought she was so afraid to be criticized, she didn’t really participate much. I thought some of her questions like the one she asked about nuclear weapons didn’t make much sense the way she asked it. She should have stepped aside.
Well, if you would consider giving Biden the final word on three out of every four questions to be “impartial”, then Ifill qualifies…
So how long do we think that the McCain campaign knew about Ifill’s conflict of interest after she was announced the moderator for the “debate”?
Mr. Amazedbythewhatever, the questions were NOT known to the debators beforehand. That statement is a lie. Gov. Palin had a list of talking points that she was allowed to address by her handlers and she faithfully followed the list even to ignoring Ms. Ifill’s questions. As to why Ms. Ifill did not repeatedly try to hold her to the questions, the debate was on a time constraint and could not wait for Gov. Palin to decide to answer properly.
Her work was fine. It was still a conflict of interest and she should not have been chosen to anchor it.
Willys, Both candidates spent considerable time looking down while delivering their answers. On one occasion, Palin looked down about every 5 seconds to either read an answer or check her skirt for lint. Biden, at one point, seemed as if he were stuck in the reading position. He rambled off a dozen or so sentences without looking up from his prepared remarks.
Now if you want a true debate, send the candidates out with a few clean sheets of paper to jot notes down and ask away with questions from every direction. See how the candidates stack up.