ABC's Democratic Debate

Did you read Leo’s political rage in realtime?

I believe that it was after the fact.

More media reaction -

About half the time set aside for the debate had elapsed - and seven flimsy or already-exhausted issues had been raised - before the first serious question of the night, about troop withdrawals from Iraq, was asked.

The relentless triviality was only one problem, however. The more serious failing was the willingness of Gibson and Stephanopoulos to volunteer as water-carriers for a conservative attack machine that, fearful of Obama’s crossover appeal, is already working overtime to tarnish his reputation.
Gibson placed ABC’s imprimatur on one of the more obviously silly stories - the suggestion that Obama’s disinclination to wear a stars and stripes flag pin could render him unelectable.

“As you may know, it is all over the internet,” Gibson intoned earnestly, as if hoping this might absolve him from any responsibility for raising such a gaseous point during a critical prime-time debate.

“I have never said that I don’t wear flag pins or refuse to wear flag pins,” Obama - who had, in fact, donned such a pin when it was given to him by a veteran on Tuesday - said in response.

“This is the kind of manufactured issue that our politics has become obsessed with and, once again, distracts us from what should be my job when I’m commander in chief, which is going to be figuring out how we get our troops out of Iraq and how we actually make our economy better for the American people.”

That response provoked the audience to break the night’s ground rules by bursting into applause. But Stephanopoulos, undaunted, immediately took up the baton to investigate what he absurdly categorised as “the general theme of patriotism” - or supposed lack thereof - in Obama’s personal life.

Editor and Publisher:

In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate in years, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia Daily News:

I am still angry at what I just witnessed, so angry that it’s hard to even type accurately because my hands are shaking. Look, I know that “media criticism” – especially when it’s one journalist speaking to another – tends to be a genteel, collegial thing, but there’s no genteel way to say this.

With your performance tonight – your focus on issues that were at best trivial wastes of valuable airtime and at worst restatements of right-wing falsehoods, punctuated by inane “issue” questions that in no way resembled the real world concerns of American voters – you disgraced my profession of journalism, and, by association, me and a lot of hard-working colleagues who do still try to ferret out the truth, rather than worry about who can give us the best deal on our capital gains taxes.

I thought that THIS was Weather Underground.

Cribbed from Andrew Sullivan’s Daily Dish blog, Obama replies:

I will tell you it does not get more fun than these debates. They are inspiring debates. I think last night we set a new record because it took us 45 minutes before we even started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people.

It took us 45 minutes — 45 minutes before we heard about health care, 45 minutes before we heard about Iraq, 45 minutes before we heard about jobs, 45 minutes before we heard about gas prices.

Now, I don’t blame Washington for this because that’s just how Washington is. They like stirring up controversies and getting us to play gotcha games and getting us to attack each other. And I’ve got to say Sen. Clinton looked in her element.

Is that Sullivan you’re quoting or Obama?

It was Obama. With video!

You connect with retardos, ZING!

Won’t you help. Only with your urine can we be curin’

What is this supposed to mean?

Space Ghost?

Well, it sounds like Obama finally disowned Wright. Even after saying he couldn’t do so. I don’t envy the people who run for President of the USA.

It is meaningless, like every other bago post. Ignored.

In the next few days we’re going to see the controversy over Obama rubbing his face with his middle finger while saying ‘Senator Clinton looked in her element.’

Video of Hosts being heckled -

Yes, the crowd is turning on you Charles.

That is awesome.

This.

“Blunderingly”???

It gets worse and worse… it turns out the “every woman” who asked the lapel pin is someone [URL=“http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/34071.html”]ABC tracked down after seeing her anti-Obama flag pin comments in the New York TImes.

ABC, which hosted the debate, had tracked her down after she was quoted in a New York Times story about white voters in small-town Latrobe, Pa., revealing her as 52, out of work and against Obama.

So she was a plant, pretending to be the usual “conflicted voter”, but really wasn’t. A strange bit of anti-Obama kabuki…

Aren’t plants usually plants for someone? Or by someone?