I think this emphasis is ludicrously out of step with the actual concerns of Republican primary voters, but very much in tune with the stereotype of Republicans that the MSM seek to convey. (It was no accident that one of Chris Matthews' questions was about Terry Schiavo!)
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Why did Chris Matthews, the moderator of the first GOP Presidential debate, find it necessary to pin down all the Republican contenders their positions on poor, departed Terri Schiavo?
To most Americans, this case would seem to be the very definition of a dead issue, you should pardon the expression.
Yet Matthews chose to use precious time in a 90 minute televised debate from the Reagan library to ask each and every one of the ten Presidential candidates whether he agreed with Congressional interference with the Schiavo case more than two years ago.
Matthews and the other questioners made no similar attempt to drill each of the candidates on health care, education, guns, Afghanistan, education, Israel and the Palestinians, AIDS, Venezuela, college loans, hate crimes, Cuba, affirmative action, tort reform, balancing the budget, or social security.
None of these significant issues received nearly as much attention as Terri Schiavo, or embryonic stem cell research, or faith in politics, or abortion --- in fact, questions about abortion seemed to dominate the proceedings, with Mayor Giuliani forced to address questions about “reproductive rights” on four different occasions.
The Chris Matthews Agenda Kidnaps the GOP Debate
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