One NYT Caucus blog commenter noted it was like watching the National Enquirer on TV
BBSNews 2008-04-16 -- In what was billed as possibly the last debate between Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Barack Obama, the clear loser was ABC News because of the pandering non-issue questions asked by the moderators instead of substantive issue questions. The two Democrats were not asked a substantive question (Iraq) until nearly an hour into the debate.
So many of the issues mentioned here, from American flag lapel pins to Jeremiah Wright, are simply Republican talking points and were more suited to right wing talk radio than a serious debate about the real issues facing the United States.
Why was George Stephanopoulos, who served as Senior Advisor on Policy and Strategy during the Clinton years, even part of the "debate" moderating team? Charles Gibson was not much better.
Over at the New York Times where the debate was live blogged the comments from those watching are practically unanimous as well. The gist being that ABC should never again be given a debate between presidential primary candidates, and that the moderators were way too focused on the most trivial of issues, the ones that were considered the "politics of personal destruction" that Republicans engaged in relentlessly during the Republican heyday years when Bill Clinton was in office.
Why not have Rush Limbaugh moderate the next Democratic debate? It would make for the same sort of sick theater. Obama certainly held his own but it was a travesty that ABC was mired in non-issues throughout most of the debate, and by it not being live.
One commenter called "Tomorrow's Headlines" over at NYT said it best: "Showcase for George and Charles (with guest appearances by 2 other people) This is shameful."