So much for fair or impatial news reporting...or a fair & impartial debate. Oh! Not to worry...it's just the partisan lib news media rearing their ugly heads again.

VP debate moderator Ifill releasing pro-Obama book

The moderator of tomorrow's vice-presidential debate is writing a book to come out on the day the next president takes the oath of office that aims to "shed new light" on Democratic candidate Barack Obama and other "emerging young African American politicians" who are "forging a bold new path to political power."

Gwen Ifill of the Public Broadcasting Service program "Washington Week" is promoting "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," in which she argues the "black political structure" of the civil rights movement is giving way to men and women who have benefited from the struggles over racial equality.

Ifill declined to return a WND telephone message asking for a comment about her book project and whether its success would be expected should Obama lose. But she has faced criticism previously for not treating candidates of both major parties the same.

During a vice-presidential candidate debate she moderated in 2004 – when Democrat John Edwards attacked Republican **** Cheney's former employer, Halliburton – the vice president said, "I can respond, Gwen, but it's going to take more than 30 seconds."

"Well, that's all you've got," she told Cheney.

Ifill told the Associated Press Democrats were delighted with her answer, because they "thought I was being snippy to Cheney." She explained that wasn't her intent.

But she also was cited in complaints PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler said he received after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin delivered her nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., earlier this month.

Some viewers complained of a "dismissive" look by Ifill during her report on Palin's speech. According to Getler, some also said she wore a look of "disgust" while reporting on the Republican candidate.

At that time she said, "I assume there will always be critics and just shut out the noise. It is surprisingly easy."

PBS viewer Brian Meyers of Granby, Conn., said he was "appalled" by Ifill's commentary directly following Palin's convention speech.

"Her attitude was dismissive and the look on her face was one of disgust," Meyers said. "Clearly, she was agitated by what most critics view as a well-delivered speech. It is quite obvious that Ms. Ifill supports Obama as she struggled to say anything redemptive about Gov. Palin's performance."

Columnist Michelle Malkin, in a post on her blog today, wonders how Ifill can objectively moderate the debate tomorrow night with the personal interest she has in the election's outcome.

"My dictionary defines 'moderator' as 'the nonpartisan presiding officer of a town meeting.' On Thursday, PBS anchor Gwen Ifill will serve as moderator for the first and only vice presidential debate. The stakes are high. The Commission on Presidential Debates, with the assent of the two campaigns, decided not to impose any guidelines on her duties or questions.

"But there is nothing 'moderate' about where Ifill stands on Barack Obama. She's so far in the tank for the Democrat presidential candidate, her oxygen delivery line is running out," Malkin writes.

"Ifill and her publisher are banking on an Obama/Biden win to buoy her book sales. The moderator expected to treat both sides fairly has grandiosely declared this the 'Age of Obama.' Can you imagine a right-leaning journalist writing a book about the 'stunning' McCain campaign and its 'bold' path to reform timed for release on Inauguration Day – and then expecting a slot as a moderator for the nation’s sole vice presidential debate?"

Malkin cited Ifill's previous reporting on Obama for "Essence" magazine, an article titled, "The Obamas: Portrait of an American Family." Ifill's "neutral analysis" about Michelle Obama, Malkin said with irony, was, "A lot of people have never seen anything that looks like a Michelle Obama before. She's educated, she's beautiful, she's tall, she tells you what she thinks and they hope that she can tell a story about Barack Obama and about herself. …"

Fox News commentator Greta Van Susteren reported the McCain campaign didn't know about the book.

"It simply is not fair – in law, this would create a mistrial," she said.

Coming to Ifill's defense was Juan Williams, a senior correspondent with National Public Radio.

"I think Gwen has been a terrific journalist," he told Fox News.

But Williams admitted the appearances could cause difficulties.

"She spent a lot of time with Obama. She praises him in the book," he said. "The book's success [is] invested in Obama. … Suddenly everyone's going to be saying Gwen Ifill is somewhat biased against Gov. Palin."

Ifill, who also works with her network's "NewsHour," told BlackAmericaWeb.com she thinks debates "are the best opportunity most voters have to see the candidates speaking to issues."

She said she is concerned only about getting straight answers from Palin and Democratic rival Sen. Joe Biden.

"You do your best to get candidates to answer your question. But I also trust the viewers to understand when questions are not answered and reach their own conclusions," Ifill told BlackAmericaWeb.

"Four years ago, when neither John Edwards nor **** Cheney proved capable of answering a question about the domestic epidemic of AIDS among African-American women, viewers flooded me with reaction," she said.

She said she will make her own decisions about what questions to ask, adding "the big questions matter."

In the Amazon.com promotion for her book, Ifill is described as "drawing on interviews with power brokers," such as Obama and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

In an online video promoting her book, she is enthusiastic about "taking the story of Barack Obama and extending it."

It focuses on four people, "one of them Barack Obama of course," she said.

"They are changing our politics and changing our nation," she said.

On Amazon.com, Ifill is praised for her "incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama."

"Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history," the review says.

She told AP her view of Obama: "I still don't know if he'll be a good president. I'm still capable of looking at his pros and cons in a political sense."

She also describes how she met him at the 2004 Democratic convention and since then has interviewed the Illinois senator and his family.

She also boasted that by the time of the debate, "I'll be a complete expert on both" Palin and Biden.

The debate will be held at Washington University in St. Louis, which has posted information about the evening's events online. Debate officials have made inactive their media page on the Debates website, and officials did not respond to a WND e-mail requesting a comment.

Ifill's profile on the website describes her as a longtime correspondent and moderator for national news programs and includes her service as moderator of the 2004 debate between Edwards and Cheney.

However, there's no mention of her upcoming book. Nor does the website for the Commission on Presidential Debates mention her book.


http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=76645

I'm sure she'd prefer Sean Hannity tossing her softballs. I guess we'll just have to see if Ms. Ifill is fair. Unless of course the McCain campaign uses this as an excuse to pull her out of the debate. That wouldn't surprise me.

If fair play means only asking her scripted questions I hope not.

Like I said before. If she can't think on her feet enough to handle unscripted questions in a no pressure environment like an interview or questions from a voter what will she do under real pressure like the threat of military or terrorist attack?

I get a big kick out of this answer from the Couric interview. Who are the media elite please? The bad reporters who ask real questions about policy? You mean the ask a whole lot of questions because they want to know how you will handle the job of the vice presidency? How rude of them! Gees, really has this woman ever interviewed for a job with real responsibility before?

Crap like the above is a hedge to play off a possiable bad performance by Palin. Sort of a pre-written excuse for why poor little Sarah was the victim of what the McCain campaign has been calling for the last few days "gotcha journalism" The phrase has come up repeatedly and I expect it to figure prominently in the damage control the McCain/Palin campaign will engage in if she does poorly.

On sexism:

COURIC: Do you think the coverage of you has been sexist?


Governor SARAH PALIN: No, I don't. I mean, I know that there--it's obvious there's some double-standards here, you know, in terms of what the media has been doing, but I think that's more--I think more attributable to just the media elite, the Washington elite, not knowing who I am and just asking a whole lot of questions and not so much based on gender though, but based on just the fact that I'm not part of the Washington herd.

anyone expecting a fair deal for Palin is certainly going to be disappointed. Why? Well, let me start with the moderator being a Black, liberal democrat, with a book deal that could make her a bunch if the election goes the right way. Need I go any further? Wait and see...the questions for Biden will be "Do you think there should be additional taxes on incomes of over $100 billion dollars?" "You have two minutes, starting now." and the ones to Palin will be "Can you quantify the approximate value of the US economy in 10 years, based upon a comparison of the effect Bush tax cuts and the solid economic principles of the great progressive author Bernard C. Duetschbach as he delineated in his book "How to rescue the US economy by nationalizing all banks and corporations with gross revenues of over $1 million." "You have thirty seconds, starting now.

Baloney. They both get the same questions. If her debate performance is anything like her interviews, it's going to be a train wreck.

t22...lay ya a $5 bet that Palin outshines Biden. He has a big disadvantage in that he has a penile extrusion and she does not. Have you ever heard of a man winning a confrontation with a woman, other than colloquial stories? I did not think so...lol..The man might think he won, but he really lost in the end. The "political correctness" in today's society have him condemned no matter what he says or does because he will be seen as attacking her. I pity him...he is screwed no matter what he does.

lol... You could be right. The expectations are so low for her, that anything short of an huge gaffe will be considered a huge success... Long, rambling, disjointed answers won't go over well though...

Just read a column by a guy in Alaska who has debated her a dozen or so times. He says Biden is in trouble because of her ability to alter the focus of a question, and connect with the audience. Says her presence fills the room in a strange sort of way. I agree the expectations are low...but...Biden is a "wonk" and wonks look terrible in debates and on tv

Well, let's see.

Joe Biden:

-Long serving member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and serves as chair in the 110th Congress.
-Considered one of the Democratic Party's leading voices on foreign policy.

http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/od/2008presidentialrace/p/jbiden.htm

-His assignment on the Senate Judiciary Committee has given him experience on immigration, citizenship, and international narcotics regulation.
-Biden voted in favor of the Iraq War resolutions but has since said the Bush Administration misrepresented the case for war, and he called for Congress to repeal the authorization to use force in Iraq.
-Biden has called for NATO action to end the genocide in Darfur, and he has advocated stronger U.S. action on global climate change.
-For the last Congressional term, Citizens for Global Solutions gave Senator Biden an A+ rating on his foreign policy positions.


Sarah Palin:

-On a clear day, she thought she could almost see Russia from her house.

Other foreign policy experience:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20081001-0017-palin-foreignpolicy.html

-Has negotiated with only one country, Canada, and until last week had met with the leader of only one other, tiny Iceland. Her portfolio expanded last week when she went to New York and met seven foreign leaders attending the U.N. General Assembly.

No brainer here as to who's more qualified in foreign policy.

Gov. Palin is going to win because she has more charisma than Sen. Biden.

Remember what was said about Lord Obama!


I wouldn't set the expectations high for any candidate in this race for the White House!!!!!

debates have nothing to do with qualifications...they have to do with public perception. I gather that what you are saying is that anyone not qualified for a position should not be a candidate for that position. Using your logic on the Palin/Biden issue, please expand that to the Obama/McCain comparison. Kindly compare the foreign policy qualifications of the two presidential candidates.

After all, the main qualification for veep is to have a heartbeat...no other responsibilities belong to them.


patiently waiting for your comparison on the pres candidates foreign policy experience and qualifications while knowing it will never come....lol

Since either VP is a heartbeat away from the Presidency (more so in Sarah Palin's case) qualifications are absolutely relevant.

And that also goes beyond knowing just foreign policy.

Sen. McCain is going to live forever!

Obama could kick the bucket tomorrow just like you or I. If your voting for Obama just because your betting McCain is going to kick over any day now, Something is a little wrong there.

WOW

That crap here is just amazing.

Gwen Ifill has been has been reporting, interviewing politicians and moderating political discussions since 1977. During that time she has interacted with persons affiliated with every party and remains a respected journalist.

The worst you all could come up with was she seemed to have an attitude in regards to Palin? She seemed snippy with Cheney? She wrote a book about Obama? That book, by the way hasn't even been published! I guess you all know just what it says already.

Once more, you all are paving the way for some more, "boohoo the liberal media is mean to us" bull $hit. Not all media is liberal. That line was made to play to the paranoid, fearful sheep who are afriad to even think about any position other than the one they are fed.

Your candidate, Sarah Palin, has already responded poorly to soft ball questions from an easy interview.

How will she do with real questions? It remains to be seen.

Some more on Gwen Ifill.

I invite you all to tune into Washington Week and listen to the level of the discussions there. Oh and before you say, it's on PBS they are a liberal media outlet I further invite you to look into who is on the panel there. They represent people from many different points of view. I know it's not FOX but hey...you might be surprised.

I'll do you a favor so you look up the backgrounds of the a fore mentioned panelists.

Gwen Ifill
Dan Balz
Jeffrey Birnbaum
Gloria Borger
Michael Duffy
John Harwood
Doyle McManus
Martha Raddatz
David Sanger
Karen Tumulty
Janine Zacharia

Come on...I dare ya!!

The McCain campaign just found out about the book?

What a JOKE!

They knew full well and have pulled this ploy at the 11th hour.

If Palin bombs, they can blame the moderator.

Yeppers, it's called damage control.

Did we hear all this preemptive crap from the Obama campaign before he appeared on FOX?

Oh, they are so mean to Obama!

HA HA HA

And lets talk about that FARCE of a forum with Reverend RICK WARREN at Saddleback Church.

Talk about a biased discussion moderator!

Yeppers great stuff letting McCain listen to the questions asked of Obama.

So, on Thursday will Sarah wear her hair down to better conceal the earpiece she will wear to get answers from her handlers?

Some additional info on the debates from Slate On-line

Don't Blame Gwen Ifill If the Veep Debate SucksWhat a stupid format.
By Jack Shafer
Posted Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008, at 5:19 PM ET
Gwen Ifill. Click image to expand.Gwen Ifill

A 90-minute televised window through which we've been invited to compare the political stands, leadership abilities, and temperaments of vice-presidential candidates Sarah Palin and Joe Biden is about to open.

The organizer of the Oct. 2 face-off at Washington University is calling the event a "debate." But like the McCain vs. Obama session that preceded it—overseen by the same outfit—the Washington University matchup will demand less from the veep candidates than a five-minute appearance on Meet the Press. The rules governing its operation all but guarantee it. So if the debate ends up revealing less about Palin's and Biden's positions than can be found on a bumper sticker, if either candidate escapes tough questions and seeks refuge in homey anecdotes, if the debaters stop talking scant seconds after they start, don't blame moderator Gwen Ifill of PBS. Blame the format.

Negotiations between the McCain and Obama campaigns resulted in a 90-minute format that calls for the two candidates to stand at podiums and field questions in turn from moderator Ifill. Answers may not exceed 90 seconds, and two minutes of open discussion will follow each question. Each candidate will give a 90-second closing statement.

According to the New York Times, the McCain campaign pushed for this arrangement, which is more restrictive than the two-minute-response, five-minutes-of-open-discussion format of the first McCain-Obama debate, because the looser "format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive."

How much can a candidate say in 90 seconds? Depending on his or her mouth speed, somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 to 300 words. During the 2004 vice-presidential debate between **** Cheney and John Edwards, the candidates were allowed 120 seconds per question, and they rarely spoke more than 400 words. (The rules that year allowed for 90-second rebuttals and discussion-extension intervals at the moderator's discretion.) To give you a sense of the brevity of 400 words, this article is just passing the 300-word mark.

Whether you give a candidate 90 or 120 seconds to speak, abbreviated formats leave the weakest ones plenty of room to hide. Because no rule forces the candidate to burn all of the allotted time answering the question, he can evade complexity and nuance by giving a rehearsed 30-second sound bite, especially if there is no provision for a follow-up question—which there usually isn't. And as we observed in the Sept. 26 McCain-Obama debate, the referee can't force the combatants into an "open discussion" if they choose not to punch: "I'm just determined to get you all to talk to each other," frustrated moderator Jim Lehrer said early in that debate.

The veep format at Washington University favors Palin, if Andrew Halcro is any guide to her debate techniques. Halcro repeatedly debated Sarah Palin in their contest for the job of Alaska governor in 2006. He writes in today's Christian Science Monitor that Palin was the "master of the nonanswer" in debates. He continues: "During the campaign, Palin's knowledge on public policy issues never matured—because it didn't have to. Her ability to fill the debate halls with her presence and her gift of the glittering generality made it possible for her to rely on populism instead of policy."

We all have estimates about how long Sarah Palin could speak about nuclear proliferation, health care, immigration, the Wall Street bailout, the Iraq war, or the Kyoto Treaty without resorting to homilies and canned phrases. But force Joe Biden to go long on any one of those topics and who knows what sort of trouble his motormouth would get him into? Biden usually requires 90 seconds just to warm up and lubricate his vocal cords, after which he reliably barks some ridiculous gaffe. The 90-second maximum protects both veep candidates from their weaknesses.

The article continues at http://www.slate.com/id/2201334/

For all you misguided "DEMS" and evil "LIBS," here's a short slideshow of MI Gov. Jennifer Granholm prepping Joey "the shark" Biden for the debate.

It's liberalating!

http://www.236.com/news/2008/10/01/debate_training_biden_learns_w_1_9211.php