Posted on 10/06/2004 5:52:56 AM PDT by FesterUSMC
Dear Gwen Ifill:
I retract my statements posted on this site earlier before the debate, stating that your questions were going to be biased in favor of John Edwards. I feel you did a fine job as a moderator, and your questions were fair. Jim Lehrer could learn a few things from you, and he should take note. Thank you for being honest last night and doing your job.
CBS take note it's called a retraction, maybe you should try it sometime...
Agree, she was an excellent moderator and asked fair and balanced questions....
I agree. I was expecting the worst and she did a terrific job.
If there is one criticism of her performance it might be that all too often she let both candidates go back and expound on answers that they gave a question or two before. Once or twice might have been OK, but both Edwards and Cheney did it constantly until you couldn't be sure in some cases whether they ever answered the question just posed to them. She might have done a better job of reigning that in but other than that I give her a solid A.
I found the selection of her questions, their wording, and the tone of voice to be decidedly in favor of Edwards. Look at the flip-flop question or asking for additional clarification from Edwards on the global test question, which was meant to give Edwards the opportunity to explain or fudge Kerry's flub in the debate. She failed to go after Edwards in the same way that she did Cheney.
Bravo! I told my wife right before the debate started that we could expect biased questions in favor of Edwards. We were both pleasantly surprised at the questions she asked, so I too must offer cudos her way!
Totally agree. Gwen Ifill balanced the questions. Too bad she didn't moderate the first debate.
She did throw a hard question at Edwards - about how France and Russia have said there is no way they would commit troops to Iraq, no matter who is President. Edwards sidestepped the issue, and Cheney failed to nail him for it. I thought it was Cheney's biggest missed opportunity of the night, but you can't blame Ifill for that.
Hear, Hear!
I agree.
That is to be expected, I believe she IS a democrat, but SHE ASKED THE QUESTIONS, Jim Laherer did not....
I must disagree. The final question was teed up for John Edwards and he whiffed. She asked why they thought the country was so divided. "Mr. Edwards, please tell us about the two Americas." Final question is final impression. Planned and calculated IMHO.
Tom Schieffer was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Australia on September 29, 2001. He was nominated by President Bush on July 18, 2001 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 27, 2001.
John Thomas (Tom) Schieffer was born to John E. Schieffer and Gladys Payne Schieffer on October 4, 1947. His father was the managing partner of a construction company. His mother stayed home to rear the children. Ambassador Schieffer has one brother, Bob Schieffer, a journalist, who is the Chief Washington Correspondent for CBS News as well as the host for CBS's Face the nation. His sister Sharon Mayes, an educator, was a teacher, vice principal, principal, and administrator before retiring last year to consult for a local school district.
Although I have always had a little respect for her, I too was looking for something terrible last nite. Gwen came through as a journalist and showed herself worthy to have been chosen to moderate the debate unlike Leher! No, not everything was as we would have wished, but all in all Cheney was allowed to get his points across to reasonably fair questions. I intend to e-mail her and thank her.
At any rate, her questions last night were thoughtful and very "fair and balanced". Would that others who claim to be journalists spent the time she obviously did in analyzing politicians' stances on issues. Maybe Fox News will hire her!
"I retract my statements posted on this site earlier before the debate, stating that your questions were going to be biased in favor of John Edwards."
Maybe they were going to be one-sided until she read your post. I'm sure she was aware of the criticism Lehrer got. Hopefully Schiefer is paying attention too. We'll see.
well out of a democrat, I think thats about as fair as your going to get...
One are one classy person, Fester, and I appreciate your courage and decency in posting this retraction!!
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Concur with you 100 percent, Fester. She was very even-handed. No problem with the serious and professional way she handled her duties. Probably the first and last time I will have anything kind to say about someone at PBS.
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