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
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/us/politics/obama-and-romneys-friendly-fire-the-tv-watch.html?hp
“........Over all, it was civil, interesting and not at all exciting. It certainly did not look like a historic encounter. Yet the first black president shared a stage with the first Mormon presidential nominee in a television event disseminated on almost every imaginable digital avenue — even Hulu caught debate fever.
It looked less like a historic first than a rerun, an archival clip. Mostly, the subdued, old-school tone was helped along by Mr. Lehrer, who was moderating his 12th presidential debate. He presided over this one with courtesy, fairness and absolutely no flair for enlivening the discussion. Mr. Romney said that despite his personal fondness for Big Bird and Mr. Lehrer, he would reduce government spending by cutting financing for PBS.
Mr. Lehrer may have helped make his point.”
media? please the correct term is
MINISTRY OF PROPAGANDA
otherwise known as the DNC MOP
The MSM has their biases and yet that doesn't mean that they wont go after Dems, because they do occasionally.
But when proof of the MSM bias is cited as what those working for the Dem channel (MSNBC) say then it is just-more silly cult victim stuff,
Rush LOVES that crazy talk, It means more $$$$ for him.
I thought Lehrer did a great job, and not just because Mitt won. Essentially, he let the candidates show themselves. He actually gave O more time, so if O lost, it’s because he let Mitt win, not because Lehrer didn’t moderate.
I’d love to be a fly on the wall at the O’s tonight.
She: You wimp. You let Romney win. Don’t you have any gonads?
He: It’s all Lehrer’s fault! He let Romney go off on the economy! He’s supposed to stop Romney from running away with it. He disrespected ME! I’m the president! I deserve respect!
She: Well, he handed you your tail tonight. Now I’m going down to the kitchen for some ribs, better not talk to me for the rest of the night. I don’t care if it IS our anniversary. (Stomps out)
Lehrer better watch his back. The Chicago thugs will get him for this.
By the way, I just found out Obama made the wife of the head of Univision an ambassador. He is such a crook.
....until it was pointed out Obama actually was given more time. He just didn’t say anything,...
From on-line tweet:
”Obama didn’t speak for four more minutes than Mitt he THOUGHTFULLY PAUSED for four more minutes than Mitt”
All part of the obama retirement plan.
In other words, didn’t know what to say!
Did you notice he had no whites to his eyes? It scared me.
Personally, I liked the freedom of the format. Less moderation is better. Funny, Obama was struggling so much that I didn’t mind Lehrer aiding him. Even if Lehrer would have joined O behind his podium it still wasn’t a fair fight.
“Help! I moderated and I can’t get it up.”
He's always looked like that - - huge brown eyes. He could sneak right up on an army that was told not to shoot until they "see the whites of their eyes".
So the leftist media is admitting that Obama is too stupid to answer questions for himself, he needs the moderator to “help” him out..gee..and this is the guy the media proclaimed the biggest genius in the history of the Presidency, but he can’t answer some simple questions without a babysitter helping him out. The job of the moderator is to MODERATE the debate, NOT help out the candidate.
I came to the end and thought that Lehrer was four-star. He could have controlled things better...I admit that part. And you can notice both candidates saying odd things but Lehrer allowed both to keep on going without going back to question the comment. I wouldn’t mind Lehrer doing all three debates.
That impressed me. I've been asking for years why we don't cut it. Repubs are always afraid to even consider cutting PBS. Romney said it right to the guys face, and said it with a smile.
Yes, But now that you exposed the truth the black helocopter drones will be looking for you. Make sure you stock up on tin foil because the space aliens are joining in with the Ministry to stamp out the truth and you are the #1 target.
He gave Obama more time and even put words in his mouth a few times.
That’s not enough?
I might just steal that for a satire
Jim Lehrer nominated for Libya Ambassador
heh
Found this comment on Twitchy, so the first lib that says Romney was rude and Lehrer didn’t limit him, here’s the truth:
“I actually had my stop watch out.... Obama averaged 2mins18seconds with his longest response 3mins6 seconds (he actually went over 3 mins twice and very close a 3rd time). Mitt Romney averaged 1min37seconds (his longest response was 2mins25seconds - he only went over his 2 minute allowance 4 times and other than the one I just mentioned the others were only by 2-4 seconds).
Kind of gives you a feel for these 2 candidates... One is full of bluster and spends more than it has - the other is frugal and concise with what it’s given and tends to have a surplus.”
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