I'm glad to see this raised. She was awful and deserves to be called on it.
John Aravosis
· 1 year ago
See, look at how Jim Lehrer handled it. He went back again when you didn't answer the question Stephanopoulos has done this, as has Russert and others. The second Palin said "I'm not going to answer your questions," Ifill should have said "what do you mean, culd you explain that" - and have Palin explain why she's not going to answer the questions. It was absurd. The second Palin says, no I'm not going to talk about that, I'm going to talk about this, the moderator jumps in and says, no, I"m asking about Iraq, or whatever. it's pathetic what Ifill did. You do not ask a question and let someone answer a totally different topic. That is simply beyond belief.
grandma
· 1 year ago
I agree...absolutely.....Ifill should have called her on that......if Palin is going to change the rules and refuse to answer questions what is she doing there......I couldn't believe Ifill let that one go .....the McCain camp had already asked for and got a changed format.....then they won't answer the questions?!!!....Unbelievable.
existenz
· 1 year ago
After the debate, Bob Schieffer seemed struck that Palin didn't answer half the questions. I know Schieffer is Republican-friendly, but for the sake of your reputation you have to actually demand some answers. Ifill looked terrible up there, and did a disservice to the country.
Asking tough questions is especially important with Palin, considering she hasn't done a press conference and has only done two interviews.
okojo
· 1 year ago
Schieffer? Republican Friendly? his younger brother was a partner with GW Bush in the Texas Rangers. His brother was ambassador to Australia and current ambassador to Japan, both are plum assignment given to people like "Bush Rangers" etc.
I respect Bob Schieffer, but like Andrea Mitchell, no matter if they proclaim they are journalist, they have a huge conflict of interest when they do news on some of the subject they socialized with.
gwpriester
· 1 year ago
Totally disagree. She was professional and did not insert herself into the debate.
She did not have the power to compel Palin to answer the question.
We watched on C-SPAN which did display the question each candidate was asked during the response which was great because you could see just how far off the question Palin strayed.
But I do not think that Gewn Ifell is going to cower to McCain, the right or anybody. The woman is professional and has tremendous integrity.
existenz
· 1 year ago
She had the power to ask specific questions, which she did not. She also had the power, as did Jim Lehrer, to re-ask a question if the response was not sufficient.
Half the time she seemed to be suggesting topics rather than asking hard-hitting questions. She should have asked about rape kits, Troopergate, reproductive rights, somethings hard-hitting. Instead it was open ended crap like "what is your Achilles heel?".
devis1
· 1 year ago
She was awful. I replayed several times the question she asked about the power of the vice-presidency and I may be wrong but to me it sounded like she was saying Cheney thought he was part of the legislative branch. I think Addington argues that the VP isn't part of either.
grandma
· 1 year ago
She b s'd her way through that question....
devis1
· 1 year ago
BUT, i'm not talking about Palin's response. It was Ifill's question itself that I thought was wrong in it's impication of where Cheney stood.
hawkseye
· 1 year ago
I didn't have any high expectations for Ifill because she usually asks soft ball questions of guests on Lehrer news hour and rarely follows up. She is also a weak moderator on the weekly PBS news discussion. Just my opinion. The good news, however, IMNSHO, is that Rethugs are so ecstatic re Palin's performance, they may be setting the bar very high for McGrumpy. Whatever you think of Palin, she is at least friendly and compared to her, John is not at all easy listening. I predict lots of people will hit the mute button and go pour a beer.
devis1
· 1 year ago
Not a single question about troopergate?
existenz
· 1 year ago
She did a terrible job four years ago as well. Here is just one DailyKos blog recounting the disaster. Here is a more recent blog discussing her lame questions from 2004.
She should never be asked to moderate one of these things again.
Rab
· 1 year ago
Biden won the debate because like Obama he was the only adult on stage. America is in crisis and I want a leader to address the problems, not ignore them or start talking about something else. Has America had enough?
billymike
· 1 year ago
Google this: "gwen ifill condoleezza rice"
Oldnovice
· 1 year ago
I'm in the "don't blame Ifil" camp. The most important thing for Gwen to demonstrate, IMO, was her impartiality. She asked questions and gave both candidates free rein. Jim Lehrer pretty much did the same. They provided the medium in which the candidates could address each other or address the nation. Much better in the morning, IMO, for people to complain that Gwen was too lax in her moderating than to complain that she stifled the debate by insisting on strict adherence to themes over which the candidates had no control.
okojo
· 1 year ago
I think half the problem was the debate format. I wish Ifill had more leeway, but it sounds like she stuck to the letter of rules.
I wanted Palin destroyed, and made a fool out, but that would cause an uproar as well. Palin still failed at the debates. One of her jobs is to attract independent registered women voters, and she is turning them off.
I think McCain drank from the poison chalice when he picked Palin. He got his bounce, but also his long inevitable decline, given Palin is not ready for the national stage.
I wouldn't be surprise that she will be a big fundraiser in the future.
KerrynowCampau
· 1 year ago
Watching Gwen "moderate" the debate left me wondering what role if any a moderator has beyond asking a question.....
maye
· 1 year ago
There was one answer by Palin about nuclear proliferation that was complete gibberish. If Ifill had asked a follow up question, Palin would have gone into Katie Couric meltdown. If Ifill had simply said "Gov., what do you mean by that? it would have been all over.
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
YES! Instead, Palin asked Ifill if she could talk about Afghanistan INSTEAD! I was furious! Ifill, said, "Yes, Governor!" THEN Gwen Ifill asked Biden the same question but tacked on, "you can also talk about Afghanistan." Totally unrelated to the nuclear proliferation question but Palin almost melted down on it, so Ifill saved her sorry ass from another Couric Meltdown.
John Aravosis
· 1 year ago
IFILL: Governor, on another issue, interventionism, nuclear weapons. What should be the trigger, or should there be a trigger, when nuclear weapons use is ever put into play?
PALIN: Uh, nucular weaponry of course would be, uh, the be-all-end-all of just too many people in too many parts of our planet so those dangerous regimes again cannot be allowed to acquire nucular weapons, period. Our nucular weaponry here in the US is used as a deterrent and that's a safe, stable way to use nucular weaponry. But for those countries, North Korea also under Kim Jung Il, we have got to make sure that we're putting the economic sanctions on these countries, and that we have friends and allies supporting us in this to make sure that leaders like Kim Jung Il and Ahmedimijad are not allowed to acquire, to proliferate, or to use those nucular weapons, it is that important. Can we talk about Afghanistan real quick also though?
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
She was awful in 2004 too.
Deferential to Cheney; downright rude to Edwards.
And she kept losing her place throughout.
One thing I will say in her favor this time: Her questions were much more even handed. Many of the ones she used in 2004 were nothing but right-wing talking points.
I was shocked she got another chance to moderate a debate, frankly.
ShirleyGoodnessanMercy
· 1 year ago
CSPAN has had lots of Republicans calling in saying how rude and unfair Gwen Ifill was to Sarah Palin.
dad
· 1 year ago
Ifill didn't matter. That's a good thing. They were ready to pounce if she had mattered. Nothing from Ifill or from Biden for that matter, is being looped as fodder today. Palin lost on her own. All by herself. With Ifill and Biden being nice and lenient. She had all the rope she wanted. It's nobody's fault but hers ... and McCain's.
you betcha, doggonit.
Aanya
· 1 year ago
If you think Gwen Ifel was bad, hang on for the Tom Brokaw lovefest with Nasty McCain. Brokaw is most likely at the McCain Sadona cabin all weekend just to rub McCains aching feet!
scytherius
· 1 year ago
Oh Brokaw is going to be HORRIBLE.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
You got that right.
I remember him making snide remarks to Kerry's answers in 2004.
Brokaw is a total Wingnut.
scytherius
· 1 year ago
Well, for whatever reason I am glad she didn't. this debate wasn't to make either Right or the Left happy, It was to point out the differences in the VP candidates. Palin was clueless and all over the place while Biden was as good as anyone I have ever seen in any debate and the best of the 4 so far. If Ifill had done what some think she should have, she may have helped Palin focus or made her look tough by firing back at Gwen IFill more on Pa;in wanting to "talk back to the America people." It would have also kept Palin energized and she clearly faded the last half of the debate. For whatever reason, I am glad that Gwenn kind of let Palin rave on so that the indies would know she was mad.
maye
· 1 year ago
I don't think Brokaw is a wingnut, but I do think he's wounded, on behalf of his network, about the MSNBC political coverage being called-out by the Republicans. As the current tribal elder of NBC, he's pissed Brian Williams didn't get a Palin interview like the other two network anchors got.
By Tuesday night, he might be "over" trying to get back into McCain's good graces. We'll see.
PeteWa
· 1 year ago
If you think that, you haven't paid attention to Brokaw the last six to eight years.
okojo
· 1 year ago
Brokaw is friends with Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia fame, so I doubt he is in the Bob Woodward school of sychophants.
macman851
· 1 year ago
Palin would not have stood a chance had Tim Russert been the moderator. That guy had Obama and Clinton on their toes.
I remember her previous debate moderation being pretty hum drum too.
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
What were the debate rules that supposedly constrained Ifill? If the debate rules were that constraining then they shouldn't have billed this as a debate. Last night was just two minutes of fillibustering, using talking points and pivoting by Palin. Hell, Ifill even gave her PERMISSION to move on to Afghanistan when Palin was starting to stutter over the whole "NUCULAR" question.
houstonray
· 1 year ago
Slightly OT: Are y'all hearing Hillary's comments? JFC! She's talking about how effective Palin was and how well she did, blah blah blah.
I swear to God, I wish they would both just go back to NY or Arkansas or wherever and never be in the spotlight again...
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
Not surprised. She is as desperate as Mc$ame to derail an Obama Presidency. She and Bill learned a lot from all those vacations they took with the Bu$h family at their compound in Maine, didn't they?
cowboyneok
· 1 year ago
How were the questions selected? Why a question on gay marriage prefaced by Ifill warning Biden not to nuance his answer, but NOTHING about abortion policies? Today, I spoke to an "Independent" voter who was excited by yesterdays debate. She said the debate didn't change her mind or make her more likely to vote for either ticket but she liked the fact they got along so well. She kept saying, "Why can't we just get along?" I asked her if she had heard about Palin charging rape victims in Wasilla, AK for rape kits. She dismissed it, and said, "See, thats what I'm talking about. Why can't we just get along?" In other words, many independents are happy to remain ignorant. Its kind of like Nazi Germany when the average disconnected German didn't want to know any "bad things" about what the Nazis had been doing in concentration camps. Ignorance is bliss.
DAB
· 1 year ago
AMERICAblog's Joe Sudbay [I actually wrote this, not Joe]:...
Now, John, as we've been told, this is not the time to place blame or try to take credit, but to roll up our sleeves and... well, you know the rest.
Kcunac
· 1 year ago
I think we've reach a consensus then.
Should she still be living, the 2012 vice presidential debate will be moderated by Vanna White, who can deliver the same level of control but is better known to all.
okojo
· 1 year ago
I sort of blame Ifill, but I also blame how the VP debate format was set up. I still have a very high opinion of Gwen Ifill, given I would be watching her now if it wasn't for the Red Sox game....
DougStamate
· 1 year ago
We all know that Palin is not going to be interviewed by anyone other than the most synchophantic, Republican- bought "pundits". However, even without any follow-up questions, I think Ms Ifill may have gotten her own revenge on the McCain campaign. Everyone is complaining that she didn't follow-up on questions, allowed Palin to ignore questions, etc. But what she did do was allow each candidate to be themselves, and for Gov. Palin that isn't a good thing. Viewers saw Palin ignoring the reason she was supposed to be there: to respond to the questions, not spout campaign slogans (and even then louse them up). I firmly believe that that is why the poll results were so favorable to Sen. Biden; people saw Gov. Palin for what she is: incompetent, unaware and unfitted for the position of VP. The format showed that Palin is completely incapable of responding unless she knows exactly what the questions are going to be in advance. Just as a thought: are there any tapes of her as as governor at any press conferences? This appears to be something that she has been doing for a while and there should be evidence of it. Pity there wasn't a split-screen; that would only have emphasized Palin's incompetence as she shuffled madly through her cards, trying to find the ones that referred to whatever Sen. Biden or Ms. Ifill were talking about. Had there been the results would have been even more in Sen. Biden's favor.
Kcunac
· 1 year ago
That's a very good point.
As I've read the comments sections of blogs, boards, etc. there were many remarks about how hopeless she looked, checking her notes, ignoring the questions, etc.
The only reason that performance is being called a success anywhere is because of her dismal performances prior to it.
LeftCoastOracle
· 1 year ago
Oh give her a break. She broke her ankle this week. Maybe you don't know what that feels like but I do. It's painful.
I heard her say on more than one occasion, "You haven't answered the question" and then she repeated it. The fact is Sarah Palin showed who she is and it wasn't pretty.
What did you want Gwen to do? get up and bash her with her cast? Geeze, you can't please some people. Frankly I think some of you guys don't like it that Palin didn't implode and are looking for someone to blame. Believe me it was far smarter to permit Palin to hang herself.
vkobaya
· 1 year ago
Ifill kenw her place. Wasn't about to be an Uppity N----- and end up in an alley hanging from a fire escape by a rope around her neck and ruled by the LAPD southern brigade as a suicide ... with bloody bruises on her face and cut and burn marks on her body. Very bad idea to pick a Black to be moderator unless it is one as outspoken as Jesse Jackson.
All Comments
Asking tough questions is especially important with Palin, considering she hasn't done a press conference and has only done two interviews.
I respect Bob Schieffer, but like Andrea Mitchell, no matter if they proclaim they are journalist, they have a huge conflict of interest when they do news on some of the subject they socialized with.
She did not have the power to compel Palin to answer the question.
We watched on C-SPAN which did display the question each candidate was asked during the response which was great because you could see just how far off the question Palin strayed.
But I do not think that Gewn Ifell is going to cower to McCain, the right or anybody. The woman is professional and has tremendous integrity.
Half the time she seemed to be suggesting topics rather than asking hard-hitting questions. She should have asked about rape kits, Troopergate, reproductive rights, somethings hard-hitting. Instead it was open ended crap like "what is your Achilles heel?".
The good news, however, IMNSHO, is that Rethugs are so ecstatic re Palin's performance, they may be setting the bar very high for McGrumpy. Whatever you think of Palin, she is at least friendly and compared to her, John is not at all easy listening. I predict lots of people will hit the mute button and go pour a beer.
She should never be asked to moderate one of these things again.
I wanted Palin destroyed, and made a fool out, but that would cause an uproar as well. Palin still failed at the debates. One of her jobs is to attract independent registered women voters, and she is turning them off.
I think McCain drank from the poison chalice when he picked Palin. He got his bounce, but also his long inevitable decline, given Palin is not ready for the national stage.
I wouldn't be surprise that she will be a big fundraiser in the future.
PALIN: Uh, nucular weaponry of course would be, uh, the be-all-end-all of just too many people in too many parts of our planet so those dangerous regimes again cannot be allowed to acquire nucular weapons, period. Our nucular weaponry here in the US is used as a deterrent and that's a safe, stable way to use nucular weaponry. But for those countries, North Korea also under Kim Jung Il, we have got to make sure that we're putting the economic sanctions on these countries, and that we have friends and allies supporting us in this to make sure that leaders like Kim Jung Il and Ahmedimijad are not allowed to acquire, to proliferate, or to use those nucular weapons, it is that important. Can we talk about Afghanistan real quick also though?
Deferential to Cheney; downright rude to Edwards.
And she kept losing her place throughout.
One thing I will say in her favor this time: Her questions were much more even handed. Many of the ones she used in 2004 were nothing but right-wing talking points.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/29/13125/1...
I was shocked she got another chance to moderate a debate, frankly.
you betcha, doggonit.
I remember him making snide remarks to Kerry's answers in 2004.
Brokaw is a total Wingnut.
By Tuesday night, he might be "over" trying to get back into McCain's good graces. We'll see.
I remember her previous debate moderation being pretty hum drum too.
I swear to God, I wish they would both just go back to NY or Arkansas or wherever and never be in the spotlight again...
Now, John, as we've been told, this is not the time to place blame or try to take credit, but to roll up our sleeves and... well, you know the rest.
Should she still be living, the 2012 vice presidential debate will be moderated by Vanna White, who can deliver the same level of control but is better known to all.
Everyone is complaining that she didn't follow-up on questions, allowed Palin to ignore questions, etc. But what she did do was allow each candidate to be themselves, and for Gov. Palin that isn't a good thing. Viewers saw Palin ignoring the reason she was supposed to be there: to respond to the questions, not spout campaign slogans (and even then louse them up).
I firmly believe that that is why the poll results were so favorable to Sen. Biden; people saw Gov. Palin for what she is: incompetent, unaware and unfitted for the position of VP. The format showed that Palin is completely incapable of responding unless she knows exactly what the questions are going to be in advance.
Just as a thought: are there any tapes of her as as governor at any press conferences? This appears to be something that she has been doing for a while and there should be evidence of it.
Pity there wasn't a split-screen; that would only have emphasized Palin's incompetence as she shuffled madly through her cards, trying to find the ones that referred to whatever Sen. Biden or Ms. Ifill were talking about. Had there been the results would have been even more in Sen. Biden's favor.
As I've read the comments sections of blogs, boards, etc. there were many remarks about how hopeless she looked, checking her notes, ignoring the questions, etc.
The only reason that performance is being called a success anywhere is because of her dismal performances prior to it.
I heard her say on more than one occasion, "You haven't answered the question" and then she repeated it. The fact is Sarah Palin showed who she is and it wasn't pretty.
What did you want Gwen to do? get up and bash her with her cast? Geeze, you can't please some people. Frankly I think some of you guys don't like it that Palin didn't implode and are looking for someone to blame. Believe me it was far smarter to permit Palin to hang herself.