The Republican guest mentioned all the concerns that we had about the ability of CNN to moderate a debate but said he was surprised about how "perfect" it was and that he had no complaints.
Kurtz set up the question to Marshall about how it was the job of the candidates to "fact check" each other and the moderators should stay out of the way. If one candidate wasn't up to the task of countering the other, that's not the fault of the moderators. Marshall said that she completely disagreed with that and felt that it is absolutely the job of a moderator to step in if a candidate is saying incorrect or misleading things.
I've been reposting my analysis of the Nixon-Kennedy debates, and one thing stands out: up until the 1996 debates, the network broadcasting the debate had the host limited to moderating the debate, that is, timekeeping and enforcing the rules. A separate panel of questioners were from mixed media, including the competing networks and print and wire journalists. Beginning with the 1996 debates (the Clinton-Dole debates), the only people questioning the candidates were from the network hosting the debates.
I've argued that it's too much for one (or two) to do: moderate the timekeeping and rules, asking the questions, listening to the answers, following up with other questions. To add fact-checking and interrupting the flow of the debate on top of that crosses a line.
I guess liberals are only happy when everything is a three-on-one confrontation.
-PJ
https://archive.is/CVURQ#selection-715.0-755.426
snip
The anger among Democrats was made evident on Sunday when John Morgan, a top Democratic donor, publicly blamed the advisers who managed the president’s debate preparations, citing by name Ron Klain, Anita Dunn and Dunn’s husband, Bob Bauer.
“Biden has for too long been fooled by the value of Anita Dunn and her husband,” Mr. Morgan wrote on social media. “They need to go … TODAY. The grifting is gross. It was political malpractice.”
He elaborated in a subsequent interview. “It would be like if you took a prizefighter who was going to have a title fight and put him in a sauna for 15 hours then said, ‘Go fight,’” he said. “I believe that the debate is solely on Ron Klain, Bob Bauer and Anita Dunn.”
Members of Mr. Biden’s family were likewise said to be focused on the president’s staff, including Ms. Dunn, a White House senior adviser, and her husband, Mr. Bauer, the president’s personal attorney, who played Mr. Trump during debate rehearsals.
They were asking why Mr. Klain, the former White House chief of staff who ran the preparations, would in their view allow him to be overloaded with statistics, and they were angry that Mr. Biden, who arrived for the debate in Atlanta with a summer tan, was made up to look pale and pallid, said one of the people, who has been in touch with several members of the family.
But the person said that the president himself was not among those who were upset and that he still trusted Mr. Klain, Ms. Dunn, Mr. Bauer and the others. Other Democrats said it was unfair to blame the staff for the president’s own failings, dismissing what they called typical second-guessing and scapegoating.
A couple of Democrats pointed out that family members did not attend the preparation sessions.
In the days since the debate, Mr. Biden has privately and publicly acknowledged that he did not do well, and he has been calling trusted advisers like Mr. Klain; Ted Kaufman, his longtime aide and friend; and Jon Meacham, the historian and informal adviser; as well as key donors and party figures.
snip
What caused CNN to be relatively fair in the debate?
To quote OwlGore, "a leopard doesn't change its' stripes"
“he was surprised about how “perfect” it was and that he had no complaints.”
It wasn’t. During the golf exchange Biden was about to lose his temper and have an angry outburst, but Bash saved him.