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A recent episode of the HBO program "The Newsroom" featured an expose of the lame presidential debate procedure we have accepted in America. The producer of the series, Aaron Sorkin, set up a confrontation between some Republican flunkies and the noble newsroom folks who wanted to change the debate format. Sorkin, a committed leftist, used the scenario to mock the GOP primary contenders, but the point is valid: The debates are largely a sham. First of all, the candidates don't have to answer the questions posed and often fly off into rehearsed bloviations that are as boring as they are...

The ambush schedule of presidential and vice presidential debates has been announced with moderator names: PBS' Jim Leher on October 3rd in Denver; CNN's Candy Crowley in Hempstead, New York; CBS' Bob Schieffer October 22nd in Boca Raton, Florida and ABC's Martha Raddatz meets the Veeps on October 22th in Danville, Kentucky. Sounds like another ambush in the making. Ryan will decimate Biden. By the way, in Chicago, Obama's hometown, The Won speaks at a fundraiser for "younger supporters" and the room is half empty. Here's some scoop: Photo: Mitt Romney - Paul Ryan Jim Lehrer (more on the Bush-Kerry...

Host Bob Schieffer says he has just found out that Romney is running an ad during the commercial breaks “using me….It is something we didn’t know about when this broadcast started" . Schieffer says, “obviously, I have no connection with the Romney campaign. It was done without our permission. It comes as a total surprise to me”...(2 videos)

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Santorum showed up yesterday on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer. And, folks, it was like Bob Schieffer, who's, what, 90? Ninety-two? Bob Schieffer talking to Rick Santorum actually appeared as though Schieffer thought Santorum was from Mars. It was a space alien. What he thought, the things he had said, Schieffer could not believe that there was a human being alive on this planet who could think that way, who believed these things. He was shocked. He was stunned. And it goes to show the Republican establishment, clearly the Democrat Party establishment, do not have the...

Moments after being introduced by Face the Nation host Bob Schiiffer as a "conservative" columnist, the Washington Post's Kathleen Parker on Sunday referred to Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich as a "misanthrope" - aka a mankind hater (video follows with transcript and commentary): BOB SCHIEFFER, HOST: And we're back now with our panel. Kathleen Parker, of course, a columnist for the Washington Post who writes kind of from the conservative side, I would say. Dee Dee Myers, President Clinton's press secretary, National Journal's Major Garrett who moderated the debate last night along with our own Scott Pelley. And our CBS...

CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley spoke with chief Washington correspondent and "Face the Nation" anchor Bob Schieffer, about the Herman Cain phenomenon. A transcript follows. Pelley: Bob, I wonder how seriously should we take the Cain campaign? Schieffer: I think it has to be taken very seriously at this point, Scott, and here's why. Think about this: Mitt Romney has been plodding along at about 25 percent in the polls and it's like he's been running most of his life. Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, gets into the race, zooms immediately to the top in the polls, has...

During his interview with Obama 2012 campaign strategist David Axelrod, "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer played a clip of President Obama talking with NBC's Matt Lauer a few weeks after he took office. Here's what a newly inaugurated President Obama said: PRESIDENT OBAMA: that's exactly right. And — and, you know, a year from now I think people — are gonna see that — we're starting to make some progress. But there's still gonna be some pain out there. If I don't have this done in three years, then there's gonna be a one-term proposition. Schieffer, reminding Axelrod that...

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said Sunday that fellow GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell's proposal to raise the debt limit was "a great political plan" but that it didn't solve the nation's debt crisis - and so he was not likely to vote for it. In an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," Coburn claimed he no longer cared about the politics of the debate, and said that "I am only going to support something that actually solves the problem." "I haven't firmly decided, but I am unlikely to support it at this time," Coburn said, of McConnell's plan, which would allow...

Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, fresh off of being informed people think she’s flaky, also took time to speak with Bob Schieffer. Schieffer was most interested in learning whether Bachmann regretted some of her strongest rhetoric against President Obama from the past, and Bachmann admitted “there’s a lot of things I wish I had said differently.” Bachmann informed Schieffer that despite some past comments, “I don’t question the President’s patriotism at all.” [...]

A senior CBS news anchor today labelled Donald Trump's campaign to raise doubts about President Obama's school grades as an 'ugly strain of racism'. Face The Nation host Bob Schieffer made the comments in the wake of Mr Trump's calls yesterday for Mr Obama to release college transcripts 'proving' he had the grades to enter Columbia and Harvard. The attack came as new research suggested viewers for Celebrity Apprentice - some of the most liberal for any TV show - were deserting the program due to Mr Trump's outspoken rants against Mr Obama. ... Yesterday Mr Trump called on the...

Tea Party strategist predicts 'tremendous gains' for candidates By Jordy Yager - 09/26/10 12:25 PM ET The head of one of the most powerful U.S. Tea Party movements said on Sunday that candidates under the burgeoning party’s umbrella are going to make “tremendous gains” this November because they have “turned the political system on its head.” Longtime political consultant Sal Russo, a leading strategist within the Tea Party movement and the head of the Tea Party Express, told Bob Schieffer on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that his organizing group is so strong -- raising more than $5 million so far...

At the close of Sunday's "Face the Nation," CBS anchor Bob Schieffer reflected on the week's Shirley Sherrod to-do (which the NYTimes recounts here.) "In case you haven't noticed, I'm old media with a capital "O," proud of it actually," said Schieffer. "And yes, we do operate differently than some in the new media...We still call people involved in a story to get their side, editors fact check, and we never publish or broadcast anything unless we think it's true. Last week we saw what can happen when it's done the other way." He continued, "I know the old media...

Video of Bob Schieffer being interviewed on Howard Kurtz program on CNN...Sorry Bob, we're not buying that you didn't know, you're a news man...(Video)

Here is video of CBS News' Bob Schieffer today - the day before the Pennsylvania Primary - saying that sources tell him that the White House is preparing for a loss by incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democrat Primary, and that President Obama "doesn't want to be associated" with it. Obama has campaigned for Specter. Too late, Mr. President. You are already "associated with it." Specter switched parties to save his own skin (he thought) and do your bidding.

Bob Schieffer predicts that Newt Gingrich will make a run for the presidency and Sara Palin won’t. Appearing on The Early Show today, Schieffer saw Palin’s resignation as Alaska governor as too big of a political obstacle in the primaries. Here’s how the Face The Nation host imagined a GOP primary opponent putting it to Palin in a debate: View video here.

Here is video of CBS News' longtime Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer today on CBS This Morning where he said he "can't imagine" that Palin has "much future in politics." Schieffer said he does not think Palin will ever run again, "and if she did, I don't think she would get very far." Schieffer pointed to the fact she left the Governor's office in Alasaka "because it was too much for her," and believes that will really hurt her if she runs in the Republican primaries in 2012. Schieffer siad he believes Palin "will sell a lot of books" and be...

At the end of Sunday’s Face the Nation on CBS, host Bob Schieffer offered commentary on the cause of the mass shooting at Fort Hood: “That doctor [Major Nidal Hasan] should not have been at Fort Hood. I don’t care how hard-up the Army is for mental health professionals....sadly, this shows the Army still does not take protecting soldiers’ mental health as seriously as it does training them to shoot.” Schieffer went on to argue: “And then there is the other part that often happens in government. Don’t deal with the problem, shuffle it off to somewhere else. When he...

Bob Schieffer’s first instinct was to act like a T-ball coach and give everyone a medal. But the avuncular Face The Nation host ultimately scored Dick Cheney the winner over PBO in yesterday’s dueling national security speeches. Schieffer made his admission on this morning’s Early Show. HARRY SMITH: This was a debate in every possible way, except it was not face-to-face. Is it possible to say which case was more compelling? View video here.

What About Bob? by: Daniel Allen, February 06, 2009 One of the most respected men in his field, veteran broadcaster Bob Schieffer, who is known for his intimate knowledge of Washington D.C., offered an insightful address to the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU) on Monday. Schieffer spoke about his role in the political world over the last several decades as a reporter, and about the changing nature of politics. Journalism is also changing, he explained. Though he deeply admires both Barack Obama and John McCain, Schieffer believes that both positives and negatives came from the 2008 election....

The word “racist” may not have passed Bob Schieffer’s lips, but that certainly seemed to be the implication of his commentary on Sunday’s Face the Nation. While talking about Michael Steele, former Maryland Lieutenant Governor and newly-elected chairman of the Republican National Committee, he said: “So it was that the party of Lincoln which had freed the slaves, but in the process had become the party of mainly white people, came full circle and turned to an African-American Moses to lead it out of the political wilderness.” So from Schieffer’s point of view,