You know Media "bunch uh whiny, crying, little bitches"...
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
very funny ...almost
The whole nation eagerly awaited the political opinion of NBC's deflated weather balloon.
As well as his job performance. This was round one and I'll bet he studies harder
on the golf course next time. Mittens did it right this time.
“Translation: Lehrer did not rig it for Obama.”
Not for lack of trying.
Obama was ready for questions, not conversation. He had the answers written in his head.
The conversation and technique threw him off his talking points and he couldn't BS
himself away from any presser podium.
You are a great motivator,
But watch out because the Ministry is watching us. BOOO. HA-HA.
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....I’d die to hear a moderator ask “Mr. President, you rendered assistance to Libya, Egypt, Syria et al. Would you please tell us why we are arming and assisting al Quaida again?”
Ping
I give Lehrer credit for giving the candidates extra time to elaborate and explain their positions. Obama put Romney on the defensive early on, but Romney had no problem handling it because of his detailed knowledge of subjects like health care and finance.
Whatever his intentions, Lehrer’s handling of the debate allowed for some discussion in depth. This made it interesting and informative, and not just a beauty contest like past Presidential debates. So since this just happened to work to Romney’s advantage, Liberal “journalists” are piling on Lehrer.
Agree. See Post No. 71.
Uh, oh. Jim’s not going to be invited to anymore cocktail parties...
...”Translation: Lehrer did not rig it for Obama”...
You are exactly correct. Jim Lehrer’s goal was to allow the American people to see as far into each candidate as they could..He did the job of a true patriot last night and was fair as any moderator could have been. He is not into the corruption practiced by the MSM.
Shows how Black Racist the Liberal Commies are.....they cannot admit a Kenyan Muslim Black President “Lost”....it is the WHITE MODERATORs fault.....
“THERE YOU GO AGAIN”
Politico is a waste of O2. “generally was steamrolled by the presidential candidates, Mitt Romney in particular.:
Yet Obama spoke 2 minutes longer?
the moderator should keep them within time limits to equalize time exposure - otherwise let them go at it.
“Did you notice he had no whites to his eyes? It scared me.”
Yeah, maybe there is some truth to the story about the government having captured aliens out at Area 51! There is just nothing worse than an aging Marxist. He looked like the walking dead.
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