Thompson Wins Debate
So says Dean Barnett of The Weekly Standard, while excoriating the moderator of the forum, Carolyn Washburn. editor of The Des Moines Register.
HERE WE WERE on Wednesday, a nation of political junkies gathered around our televisions to watch the candidates debate each other one last time, and we had as a moderator one Carolyn Washburn, the editor of the Des Moines Register. I don't mean to go all East-coast-elitist on you; I'm sure there are people in Iowa who could capably moderate a presidential debate. Unfortunately, and obviously, Carolyn Washburn is not one of them.
The bulk of the post-debate analysis will probably focus on how maladroit Washburn was at the job. She did the impossible–she moderated the last Iowa debate between the Republican candidates before caucuses and yet saw to it that none of the candidates engaged each other. In other words, the moderator ensured that the debate would be as lively as a 12 part PBS series on "How Grass Grows." A personal aside to the Des Moines Register–"boring" is not synonymous with "serious."
The problems went beyond Washburn's lack of mad moderating skillz. From the outset, Washburn announced that the candidates would not be discussing either Iraq or immigration. Swell! It's the biggest debate of the season, so let's take the two biggest issues off the table. For what it's worth, Washburn brought all the charm to her assignment of a latter-day Nurse Ratched.
I was otherwise occupied today and did not watch. But Barnett's favorite moment from the debate is this gem:
THE WINNER was Fred Thompson. Fred came to play. He also had the obvious moment of the day when he took on the officious moderator, refusing to go along with one of those idiotic "raise your hands" questions. Given the hour that the debate took place, a lot of people will probably see only a highlight package of the debate. The unquestioned highlight was Fred slapping down the moderator. Even putting that aside, Fred had his best day of the campaign. He was serious, thoughtful, and authoritative. It was a wonderful day for him.
Which is already up on YouTube:
To say that the 'show of hands' type question is lame is to be extremely kind. This is the editor of the largest newspaper in Iowa and this is the best she can come up with? Allowing no discussion, just raise your hand for a 'gotcha' moment later in the campaign. Thompson deserves applause for refusing to play stupid media tricks. Barnett is exactly right here. The people and the political process are ill-served by allowing inept journalists into it this way. The reporters/talk show hosts/editors should not be injecting themselves into politics this way and the candidates should refuse to tolerate it - from either party. This crosses into making the news rather than reporting the news and the journalists themselves should be against it. There has to be a better way to do this.
By Maggie, Thursday, 13 December , 2007 @ 8:45 am
Was her next question:
“Show of hands please … How many of you beat your wives, and how many of you believe wife beating is wrong?”
THIS IS the paradox that is (GW) consensus.
By martian, Thursday, 13 December , 2007 @ 1:40 pm
The first time I’ve seen Thompson actually take control and the first time I’ve seen any of the Republican candidates stand up to what was obviously a liberal using a baiting question that could later be exploited by the Dems no matter HOW they answered. Maybe the Rep. candidates are staring to develop spines for a change!