Posted on 10/03/2012 11:39:15 PM PDT by Second Amendment First
Colorado presidential debate: Media piles on moderator Jim Lehrer By: Mackenzie Weinger October 4, 2012 01:18 AM EDT
The loser of Wednesday night’s debate, according to many pundits and political commentators?
Moderator Jim Lehrer.
Lehrer, the executive editor of PBS Newshour, sat behind the desk for the 12th time in the history of televised presidential debates on Wednesday night — and drew some of the most blistering reviews of his career. The consensus: Lehrer did not control the debate, failed to enforce the time limits, did not press the candidates enough and generally was steamrolled by the presidential candidates, Mitt Romney in particular.
(Also on POLITICO: Lehrer: The master of moderation)
Fox News Sunday’s Chris Wallace criticized Lehrer for seeming to “lose some control” of the candidates, and questioned whether his questions sometimes helped President Barack Obama.
“Jim Lehrer, a man for whom I have tremendous esteem, seemed to lose control of the debate, occasionally,” Wallace said. “He seemed to just simply throw something out there to keep the conversation going, sometimes it seemed to be helping Obama, like saying, ‘Well, gee, so you are for a balanced approach of tax cuts and spending — tax increases and spending cuts,’ and that really seemed to lose some control.”
On MSNBC, Chris Matthews knocked Lehrer for not being aggressive, saying, “I thought the moderator did not moderate.”
“He didn’t follow up,” Matthews said. “Today, moderators are expected to be aggressive, they’re going to ask a question, they throw it out there, they don’t just say a topic. They ask a question.”
Also on MSNBC, The Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman blasted Lehrer as “practically useless.”
“Jim Lehrer was practically useless as the moderator,” Fineman said. “It was criminal negligence not to follow up on the question — ‘Mr. Romney, specifically what tax loopholes or deductions do you want to get rid of?’ He didn’t ask it.”
CNN contributor James Carville said Lehrer “let those guys freelance and go back and forth,” and MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow noted that “Lehrer — to the extent that he tried to assert himself — got rolled over by Romney again and again and again.”
Before the debate, NBC’s Ted Koppel defended Lehrer’s role as debate moderator, telling POLITICO that “the pressing in a debate needs to come from the adversary: It’s up to the candidates to say to one another, ‘I heard Jim’s question and you’re not answering it.’ This is not about whether we want Jim Lehrer to be president.”
And The Washington Post’s Erik Wemple backed Lehrer afterward, writing that the moderator “deserves a nod” for the “excellent” debate.
“He moderated the thing, after all,” Wemple wrote. “Much of the vitriol headed his way grinds at his inability to enforce time limits, which are arbitrary and dumb anyhow.”
“Lerher’s real problem was that, for one night, he hads [sic] to play stand-in for the entire American media. And if there’s one thing the American public enjoys, it’s bashing the American media, no matter how it performs,” he added.
But many of Lehrer’s fellow TV hosts tweeted throughout the evening, saying they wished Lehrer would make his presence known. “This isn’t a debate, it’s just a polite exchange of views,” CNN’s Piers Morgan wrote. “Come on Jim, get in there and rev things up a bit.” David Gregory of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” meanwhile, noted it “would be great to have more follow up to pin down their views.”
Some were more stark with their assessment of Lehrer: NBC’s Today show weatherman Al Roker tweeted, “I hope Jim Lehrer gets the license plate of the truck that drove over him in this debate.”
Many on Twitter commented on Lehrer’s inability to control Romney, with Aaron Blake from The Washington Post’s The Fix blog writing, “Romney is totally overpowering Lehrer.” Comedian Bill Maher called for Lehrer to push back against Romney, tweeting, “Hey Lehrer, you’re the f—-ing ref, stop letting the Mittbot bully you - he can’t fire YOU.” That wasn’t the only foul-mouthed tweet of the evening, with The New Republic editor Franklin Foer writing, “Biggest p—— of the night: Obama or Lehrer? I’m one of the few undecideds.”
Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas dubbed the moderator “tonight’s Clint Eastwood,” and Commentary magazine editor John Podhoretz tweeted that Lehrer “may be the worst moderator in the history of moderation.” But Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein offered a more sympathetic take, tweeting, “I feel badly for Jim Lehrer tonight.”
The Huffington Post’s Sabrina Siddiqui summed up the media’s take on Twitter: “Tonight’s loser: Jim Lehrer.”
© 2012 POLITICO LLC
This is the first debate I can remember where the moderator didn’t try to debate the Republican himself.
This is the way it should be done. It is the candidate’s debate, not the moderator’s. Let the candidates say what they have to say, and keep time.
Most moderators spend their time trying to stop the candidates from talking, mainly if they are a Republican. Lehrer encouraged the conversation and I thought it went rather well. Both candidates had ample time to develop their thoughts. I thought both candidates presented themselves well. The Obama partisans are just mad because Lehrer didn’t shout Romney down and cut him off after 20 seconds, which is what too many so-called “moderators” have done in previous debates.
Romney won handily, just because he was able to get past the media gate-keepers for an hour tonight, and give more than a bumper-sticker answer to the questions.
The other debates matter very little.
Only the political junkies from both parties will be watching.
This was the important one.
Besides, I think Oblameo may find a reason not to have time to debate again.
yep.
The blame Jime Lehrer meme is starting to grow with these leftist knuckleheads.
Gee maybe Obama can’t properly explain his record because it SUCKS! And has nothing to do with Jim Lehrer.
“Also on MSNBC, The Huffington Post’s Howard Fineman blasted Lehrer as “practically useless.”
“Jim Lehrer was practically useless as the moderator,” Fineman said. “It was criminal negligence not to follow up on the question — ‘Mr. Romney, specifically what tax loopholes or deductions do you want to get rid of?’ He didn’t ask it.””
Fineman is a particularly odious hack. This crying, whining tirade shows what a ultra-partisan dick he is. That being said, I do love the taste of his bitter tears.
Lehrer gave Obongo almost 5 minutes of time . Aas it turned out , that was not a + for O . lol
“Translation: Lehrer did not rig it for Obama.”
Exactly. Initially, the comments were about the debate being spirited and vigorous. In the past Presidential “debates” are trite to the point of being silly, and don’t get beyond sound bites and “alpha male” posturing. But Lehrer let the discussion go on when the participants wanted to explain or elaborate, and he gave extra time to both candidates. It just happened that this worked in Romney’s favor, because he had a deeper understanding of and a detailed knowledge of subjects like finance and government health care, while Obama was limited to fuzzy generalities.
I can’t wait until foreign policy comes up, and Obama will have to explain his insistence to “Ask Vladimir to wait until after the election”, or his feckless performance with the Benghazi attacks.
“Translation: Lehrer did not rig it for Obama.”
Yup, you nailed it! I didn’t watch all the debate, but from what I did see, I think Lehrer did a pretty good job. These folks are just mad he didn’t rush in to save The Won from himself.
I’m half surprised they didn’t drag Lehrer off and put in an emergency call to Gwen Iffill, LOL.
It’s definitely your opinion and you’re entitled to it, but you’re so far off on reading this debate and what Romney did it’s not even funny.
Exactly, let him ramble on. Hopey/Changey is officially dead!
“Why should Romney listen to a nobody like Jim Lehrer?”
When Romney was talking about what he’d cut, he specifically mentioned PBS. That comment probably left Lerher in shock! And as an aside, Lerher looked as though he ‘s joined the Lautencorpse group. Man, he’s just OLD!
(yawn) Had Ubama been the consensus winner tonight, none of these scumbags would have a single critical word for Lehrer. In fact, had Ubama won they would be patting the guy on the back for a good job.
Yeah, I noticed that, too.
The half-inch thick white pancake makeup on his face didn't help, either.
The only thing missing was his Hoveround!
Sorry is is not MSM or MSNBC or any of the others. The correct title is
MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA
otherwise known as the MOP
Rachel Maddow was all ready to go off on how Lehrer gave Romney more time, until it was pointed out Obama actually was given more time. He just didn’t say anything, whereas Romney used his time to make his points in understandable, reasoned, non-stuttering, succinct ways.
Please get the name correct
MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA
Otherwise known as the DNC MOP
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