For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with.
Issues take back seat at debate
Questions about heady issues such as the war in Iraq, the crumbling economy and skyrocketing gas prices took a backseat during the debate to the petty issues that have defined the five-week battle between Clinton and Obama in Pennsylvania.
ABC anchors Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos spent the first half of the less-than-two-hour debate peppering Clinton and Obama with questions about sermons from Obama’s former pastor, Clinton’s faulty recollections of a 1996 trip to Bosnia and Obama’s ballyhooed “bitter” comment about some of this state’s voters.
The ABC News "Freak Show"
This debate was disgusting.
A Political Rerun
How exhausted is the debate format? ABC's producers were so desperate for new ideas that they resorted to quoting sections of the Constitution after every commercial break.
ABC Host Heckled After Debate
Reflecting what seemed to be the main consensus of the night - that ABC botched this debate, big time - Charlie Gibson tells the crowd there will be one more, superfluous commercial break of the night and is subsequently jeered.
"OH..." he declares, hands raised in defense. "The crowd is turning on me, the crowd is turning on me."
A Shameful Night for the U.S. Media
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. They, and their network, should hang their collective heads in shame.
5 comments:
Disaster for ABC News. Who needs Gibson when we have Drudge?
What does ABC News and a Kangagroo Court have in common? After last nights "debate", alot.
All that was missing was the noose and the tree.
What a waste of air time. What was ABC thinking? Obviously, that the American public doesn't deserve better.
Email to complain:
Peter Salinger (THE MAN IN CHARGE OF ELECTION COVERAGE) 212.456.5105 peter.salinger@abc.com
Heaven forbid Gibson and Stephy ask a question or two that might put His Holiness on the defensive!
Cause we wouldn't want any debate to address the outright lies (think Bosnia) or shady associations (think Bill Ayers).
Gibson and Stephy- danged conservative tools!
For a voter like me who reluctantly prefers McCain, but who thinks the Dem candidate will have a good shot at the White House, the paramount issue to me is trust. Simple trust.
If one of these two might get the presidency, I'd like to figure out which one I trust more. Policy-wise, they're really not that different (trust-wise, I'm not sure they're all that different either).
But I think the questions Gibson and Stephy asked last night were relevant. If Hillary will outright lie about something stupid like the sniper fire, is she more likely to lie about bigger things?
If Obama can still maintain "a friendly relationship" with a member of a terrorist organization (Weather Underground), do I trust him with national security?
We know where Hillary and Obama stand on health care and the economy. I want to know which one I can trust.
McCain's "friendly relationship" with Bush is enough of a problem for me. I don't trust him!
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