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"Hewitt is the originator and longtime producer of "60 Minutes," the most successful TV news magazine program ever. Less known is the fact that Hewitt is the man who produced the first televised presidential debate between then-candidates John Kennedy and Richard Nixon. Nixon's campaign later claimed that Hewitt had cleverly switched the cameras to Nixon every time he frowned or wiped his sweaty brow. Nixon looked nervous and Kennedy looked the statesman, thanks to Don Hewitt. Hewitt is also the guy who helped rescue Bill Clinton's candidacy..."

LEHRER: Good evening, Mr. President, Senator Kerry. As determined by a coin toss, the first question goes to you, Senator Kerry. You have two minutes. Do you believe you could do a better job than President Bush in preventing another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States? --- LEHRER: New question, Mr. President, two minutes. Do you believe the election of Senator Kerry on November the 2nd would increase the chances of the U.S. being hit by another 9/11-type terrorist attack? -- LEHRER: New question, two minutes, Senator Kerry. Colossal misjudgments. What colossal misjudgments, in your opinion, has President Bush...

THE FIRST encounter between President Bush and Sen. John F. Kerry last night generated both heat and some illumination about the two candidates' positions on critical questions of foreign policy. Despite rules designed to curtail direct exchanges, there were, under Jim Lehrer's skillful moderation, pointed and serious arguments about Iraq, the threats from Iran and North Korea, U.S. alliances, and the meaning of the war on terrorism. Both the president and his challenger spoke forcefully and, occasionally, with passion: Mr. Bush dismissed Mr. Kerry's arguments as "absurd" and "ludicrous," while Mr. Kerry repeatedly accused the president of exercising bad judgment...

In order asked .......... To Kerry ... Do you believe you could do a better job than President Bush in preventing another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States? To Bush ... Do you believe the election of Senator Kerry on November the 2nd would increase the chances of the U.S. being hit by another 9/11-type terrorist attack? To Kerry ... "Colossal misjudgments." What colossal misjudgments, in your opinion, has President Bush made in these areas? To Bush ... What about Senator Kerry's point, the comparison he drew between the priorities of going after Osama bin Laden and going after...

I suspect John Kerry had Jim Lehrer's questions in advance... The questions asked, the way they were phrased and the sequence in which they were asked gave him far too many opportunities to debunk every negative flip flop fact exposed during the campaign. He was so efficient and concise he even had the opportunity to weave domestic policy shots in a foreign policy debate.John Kerry's answers had the efficiency, grammar and formating of a prepared speech. After the CBS forgery episode the obvious media bias is glaring and so evident it's actually brazen in its scope.

The pundits are already prognosticating about last night’s presidential debates. Many say John Kerry “won,” but that’s not yet entirely clear. Am I the only person who noticed Kerry’s constant smirking, nodding, head-shaking, and general smugness while the President answered questions? Didn’t anyone else notice Jim Lehrer’s loaded questions directed at President Bush? Maybe Kerry scored a few points for debating, but he certainly didn’t win the November election early. A CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll of 615 registered voters who viewed the debate showed that Kerry “fared better” than Bush, but also revealed that those same voters still preferred President Bush...

Does anyone know if a transcript is available, or did anyone see, the Don Imus/Jim Lehrer interview? I've seen a few references to it in other postings, but would like to see the whole thing, if possible. I did a search and nothing came up. Thanks.

Q 1 (to Kerry): Do you believe you could do a better job than President Bush in preventing another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States? Q 2 (to Bush): Do you believe the election of Senator Kerry on November the 2nd would increase the chances of the U.S. being hit by another 9/11-type terrorist attack? Q 3 (to Kerry): "Colossal misjudgments." What colossal misjudgments, in your opinion, has President Bush made in these areas? Q 4 (to Bush): What about Senator Kerry's point, the comparison he drew between the priorities of going after Usama bin Laden and going after...

Lehrer Stacks Deck Against Bush Presidential debate moderator Jim Lehrer showed once again Thursday night why top aides to President Clinton used to call him "our moderator" when presidential debate time rolled around in 1996. The questions, which Lehrer announced at the outset had been authored exclusively by him, were supposed to help the American people determine which candidate would be a better steward of U.S. national security in a post-9/11 world. But there were no queries to Sen. Kerry about his long Senate record of voting against defense appropriations, or his sponsorship of a bill to cut CIA funding...

It probably just my inherent VRWC paranoia, but it seems as though Lehrer might have had an agenda in his questions. Numerous questions to President Bush were phrased in such a way as to put him on the defensive, requiring him to explain how he would correct what Lehrer implies are previous mistakes. Conversely, most of Kerry's questions were soft balls designed to let him reitrate his new and improved (and presumably final and solid) campaign talking points. I guess Kerry's two decades of Senate votes on matters effecting foreign affairs were not deemed germane to tonight's discussion of foreign...

It probably just my inherent VRWC paranoia, but it seems as though Lehrer might have had an agenda in his questions. Numerous questions to President Bush were phrased in such a way as to put him on the defensive, requiring him to explain how he would correct what Lehrer implies are previous mistakes. Conversely, most of Kerry's questions were soft balls designed to let him reitrate his new and improved (and presumably final and solid) campaign talking points. I guess Kerry's two decades of Senate votes on matters effecting foreign affairs were not deemed germane to tonight's discussion of foreign...

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Foreign policy and homeland security were the focus of the first debate between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry. Following is a transcript of the debate. JIM LEHRER, ANCHOR AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, PBS' "THE NEWSHOUR": Good evening from the University of Miami Convocation Center in Coral Gables, Florida. I'm Jim Lehrer of "The NewsHour" on PBS.

Okay folks, given the state of desperation the left is in, the CBS forged documents debacle, millions being spent by various leftist orgs and George Soros, the campaign by Springsteen, his band of idiots and Hollywood; is it not a distinct possibility that one or more of Kerry's willing accomplices in the media (think some producer type for Lehrer, Gibson, Schieffer and Ifill) will give him the questions for these debates BEFORE the debate?

Ever since they were first televised in 1960, presidential debates have been at least as much about style as substance. Tonight's debate in Miami between President Bush and Sen. John Kerry over national-security issues -- the first of three between the presidential candidates -- should run true to form. At a time of supreme national insecurity, President Bush and Sen. Kerry have very different world views. The president is wary of entangling alliances and has taken heat for being willing to go mostly alone. Mr. Kerry is committed to alliances, though it isn't clear that allies who have held the...

(VIDEO): News Anchors Gather At Harvard To Discuss Media And Politics Some of TV's major news anchors gathered on Sunday (July 25) at the Kennedy School of Government to discuss 'The Press and the Election.' Among the high-profile panelists were Judy Woodruff (CNN) (from left), Dan Rather (CBS), Jim Lehrer (PBS), Peter Jennings (ABC), and Tom Brokaw (NBC).(Staff photo Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard News Office) A politically polarized nation and corporate concerns have applied increasing pressure on the nation's major news broadcasters, top anchors told an audience at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG) Sunday (July 25), but they are resisting such...

Last night after Cheney's speech on my local public tv channel, there was a short panel discussion with Jim Lehrer, Mark Shields and some other semi-conservative guy...I don't know his name. Anyway Shields said that Miller and Cheney had lied about Kerry's UN statement. Lehrer then turned to the "conservative" guy and asked him, "Well, was it a lie?". They guy laughed nervously and said, "Well it was a stretch...but they all do it."I seem to recall that this is not a lie, but something Kerry said or wrote early in his political career. Can someone point me to the...

KWAME HOLMAN: John Kerry has given his military record a principal role in his campaign for president. And at the Democratic Convention last month, Kerry featured prominently several veterans who attested to his bravery and leadership while commanding a swift boat in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.But earlier this month, a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth launched a TV ad charging Kerry with lying about his tour in Vietnam that led to three Purple Heart combat medals. The group is funded in part by a wealthy Republican donor; the ad ran this month in three battleground states: Ohio,...

Appearing in a panel discussion of news anchors held at Harvard University earlier this week, Dan Rather defended himself against charges that he was liberally biased by quoting from a book by a left-wing media critic who also happened to be in the audience. After reciting some well-worn quotes from author Eric Alterman's book What Liberal Media?, Rather was almost scared out of his mind as someone from the audience called out "Give the source for that!" "Uh," Rather stammered, afraid that he'd be outed as a reader of a left-wing book on national television, "Pat Buchanan." "No," the audience...

The 9/11 Commission is completing its investigations into the events leading up to that fateful September day in 2001.  In late July, around the time of the Democratic National Convention, the commission will issue its report and recommendations.         For those expecting anything conclusive regarding Presidents Bush and Clinton in the way of definitive responsibility for 9/11, forget it.  This report will be the equivalent of most modern  presidential memoirs: hundreds of pages filled with sidebar commentary, bereft of any new insights into who did what and why.         Bush supporters will find fault with it, if only for the...

Their reporter who presents news about the media was discussing talk radio with the usual parade of liberal know-nothings. After acknowledging that Limbaugh had created the genre, and showing excerpts that were too short to convey any depth from Savage and Hannity, he let Al Franken have a few free shots at conservatives, and then announced that Rush Limbaugh's show would be on "hiatus" for the next month. Substitute hosting is decidedly NOT hiatus, of course, and I will not be misled, but the typical PBS listener might be.