A word of caution about tonight’s town hall debate
Here we go again. Tonight’s second presidential debate will be moderated by another left-leaning journalist, Tom Brokaw. More significantly, the format will be a town hall. Brokaw will pick the questions from a pre-selected pool. “Tuesday’s match-up at Belmont University in Nashville, Tenn., will be moderated by NBC’s Tom Brokaw, with the questions to be culled from a group of 100 to 150 uncommitted likely voters in the audience and another one-third to come via the Internet. The Gallup Organization — as in past debates like this — has the job of making sure the questioners reflect the demographic makeup of the nation. Brokaw selects the questions to ask from written queries submitted prior to the debate, according to the ‘contract.’”
Anyone remember the last time a liberal media outlet invited “undecided” citizen questioners to participate in a presidential campaign debate?
Hint: CNN/YouTube/plant debacle.
Refresher:
Concerned Young Undecided Person “Journey” = John Edwards supporter “Journey”
Concerned Undecided Log Cabin Republican supporter David Cercone = Obama supporter David Cercone
Concerned Undecided Mom LeeAnn Anderson = Activist for the John Edwards-endorsing United Steelworkers union LeeAnn Anderson
Concerned Undecided Gay Military Retiree Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr = Hillary/Kerry supporter and anti-”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” activist Keith H. Kerr
Brokaw and his minions better be making damned sure there isn’t a single plant among its “undecided” questioner pool.
On a related note: It would be wise to dramatically lower your expectations of this debate. The town hall format lends itself to the worst pander-style, personal sob story politicking.
Reader David sends a good prediction:
My prediction is that the most prominent topic covered tonight, of course, will be the one nobody has been talking about - except Obama in the last week - which is healthcare.
Yep, it’s going to be a bunch of “real people” whose moms are sick and can’t get health care, yada-yada-yada, “What are you going to do for me?”-type questions.
One caller this morning did offer Bill Bennett a chance for McCain to attack Obama on health care, because his “universal coverage” plan includes insuring illegal immigrants and Gitmo detainees. But you and I both know, McCain will not go there.
Exactly.
***
Related: Beware of Ponytail Guy — how townhall debates can go very wrong.
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- Playing with fire at the town hall debate? « WitSnapper | The Blog
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- Five Hours Ahead » Blog Archive » Ayers and the “undecided” voter
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- Michelle Malkin » Debate game: Guess the insipid questions
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Categories: Barack Obama, John McCain
Right Wing Nut House
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This generation of MSM “journalists” will be known as the “Worst Generation”…I can’t wait to see Brokaw’s book about this.
The media favored Hillary at that time and was playing politics against Obama. Try again.
That’s the other thing. The liberal media bias myth allows Republicans to think they’re on to some forbidden truth about the world, that they’re able to resist powerful and overwhelming pressure from a malevolent conspiracy to get their leaders elected. It’s a permanent underdog mentality, again, the oppression complex. Republicans fancy themselves as stalwart Christians being thrown to the lions. That’s why we have a War on Christmas every year.
You’ll get plenty of Senator Oblahma over the next four years while President McCain is doing his bidding from the White House in the name of “maverick bipartisanship”.
But yeah, why bother when your mind is already made up.
KEYES ‘08
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
I don’t think that the debates or anything that McCain / Palin can do in the few days remaining can change the most likely outcome–an Obama / Biden / filibuster proof congress that will lead us to the United Socialistic States of Amerika.
Someone (Abraham Lincoln?) said that you can fool all of the people half of the time and you can fool half of the people all of the time. My engineer math works this out to 75 percent of the people are buying into the O’bummer lies without checking out his associates and voting record. The conservatives and our country are toast. Watch your wallets and purses!
John Bibb
You mean a hard-hitting piece of journalism such as this?
Please.
Yes. It’s all imagined.
In reality, the national media is lazy, avoids confrontation as a rule, and is totally subservient to our political establishment.
But trying to dissuade you from holding on to this myth is pointless, it’s a cornerstone of your ideology, and it becomes most useful during times like these, when Republicans and their policies are profoundly unpopular, and a scapegoat must be anointed.
I mean asking a vice presidential candidate where she gets her news? Who does Katie Couric think she is?
Semantics…Funny that. Town Hall? No. Town Hall Style…
I have a real problem with this debate’s so called “format.” Why does a liberal leaning mouthpiece for the Democrat Party, Brokaw, get to decide what questions are “important” to ask?
I can guarantee that this type of format was a precondition of the lefty candidate during negotiations, done to appease the McCain side. “Take it or leave it!” This will insure that no “gotcha” questions will be asked of Obama. He has certainly more to lose from spontaneous questioning, that does McCain.
Who has the darker history? Who has the least amount of released information about that history? It is not McCain. We know McCain. We only know Obama by the lies, spin, and obfuscation put out by his “handlers.” If Obama is such a great candidate, why do they feel it is necessary to mask, and remold him?
If this doesn’t raise RED flags to every thinking American, then we have exactly the type of lemmings the Demo-Socialist Party have been training, and indoctrinating for the last 45 years.
Other than the Communists, who else said they would “destroy” us from the inside? Wasn’t it the Islamic Brotherhood? Fruition? I sure hope not…!
Yeah, right, the War on Christmas is just something Republicans made up.
No schools have changed “Christmas Vacation” to “Winter Break” or anything like that.
No school districts have banned Christmas Carols.
No one has ever been sued for putting up a Nativity Scene at Christmas.
It’s not really OK to ban Christmas displays while approving displays for Hannukah and Ramadan.
SEA-TAC Airport didn’t really ban Christmas trees.
Rockefeller Center hasn’t struck all references to “Christmas” from the site about its ‘Holiday Tree.’
Nope… never happened.
The conservatives in our country have been toast for decades, and the final nail was the most liberal Republican available getting the nomination.
This is going to continue until conservatives step up to the plate and move on from these socialist parties.
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
What? This doesn’t make a lick of sense.
Digshot
I am a highly trained media person. You haven’t a clue what your talking about. There are infinite ways of presenting the news and it is all manipulated. Thirty years of covert brainwashing has left you with the inability to think on a rational level. The problem now is the bias is so incredibly overt and you still can’t see it. Journalism is nearly dead just like your brain.
Ooooooooooh!! Pick Me!
Senator Obama, how will you save us from global warming? I cant, but eveyone who belives in it is an idiot and I have to pander to them. (Yeh, people, its hot eveywhere! You grew up with AIR CONDITONING!! The whole frigging world is hot outside and always has been!!)
Senator McCain, why will you keep us in Iraq for 100 years? Because the oil is there and we cant drill here. So until the all of the oil is gone WE ARE GOING TO BE THERE. So get over it.
Senator Obama, how do you feel about gay marriage? What do you think?
Senator McCain, why are you going to overturn Roe v. Wade? I wont even overturn immigration policy so why would I overturn Roe v. Wade?
It’s going to be Christmas in Washington in October! (or Tennessee as it were). What are you going to give me Senator ____?
Remember Ponytail guy telling Bill Clinton that he sees us as the children of the President? Then Old Slick Willy hit that one out of the park! Jeez! This is going to be gut-wrenching!
Palin’s the one that called Couric annoying. I mean, they’re now referring to random questioners on the street as ‘Gotcha Journalists.’ That’s a bit excessive, isn’t it? They’re shielding Palin from any sort of extemporaneous encounter with anybody, and they’re using the Republican base’s disdain for the media to do it. Palin has demonstrated how terrified she is of our superficial and weak press, and I could never vote for someone so scared of so little, but for you guys, that’s one of the things to admire.
I must admit that I was wrong about the VP debate. I thought Sarah Palin did well enough to give a slight 2pt bump in the polls due to her appearance of competence after flailing in the Couric interviews. I thought her VP debate performance was good enough to calm some pre-debate nerves about her. I and many others like Bill O(who loves her) predicted a slight bump in today’s 10.7.08 polls. We were all wrong. If anything, Obama has held strong, or slightly expanded his league. Gallup has Obama up by 9 points, and the FoxNews/Rasmussen poll has Obama up 8 points. I doubt O’Reilly admits he’s been wrong. More FoxNews/Rasmussen polling can be seem here.
By the way, Digshot, many of us here, myself included are not Republicans. I am a conservative and don’t give a rat’s ash about parties. The Republican party is full of pseudo-intellectual-liberal-socialists just as the Democrat party. The only Republican movement I am aware of is to the left. Every now and then, we get a Palin, Jindal, Reagan, and that is what keeps us interested in the GOP, but we aren’t married to a party.
That is a predeliction of the left.
The War on Christmas, you haven’t heard of it. Apparently, when someone at Wal-Mart says ‘Happy Holidays’ to you instead of ‘Merry Christmas,’ it’s religious persecution!
Just start watching Bill O’Reilly nightly here in about a month. He’ll fill you in.
That’s really easy to say in the waning months of a a totally failed and immensely unpopular Presidency, but Bush is your doing. I’m pretty sure I know exactly what you and all of the other ‘conservatives’ were doing on the first Tuesdays of November in 2000 and 2004.
Will any of these “undecided/unaffiliated voters” ask a question about illegal immigration?
No one is talking about it. Both campaigns are “reluctant” to talk about an issue they’ve openly avoided. Illegal immigration ties into both health care and the bailout debacle. Who were the ones getting the NINJA loans and filling up the ER’s? What population is straining our already stretched resources?
No, no…. that would be too common sense.
God bless her, she speaks the truth on that one!
I mean, they’re now referring to random questioners on the street as ‘Gotcha Journalists.’ That’s a bit excessive, isn’t it?
They’re shielding Palin from any sort of extemporaneous encounter with anybody, and they’re using the Republican base’s disdain for the media to do it.
Palin has demonstrated how terrified she is of our superficial and weak press, and I could never vote for someone so scared of so little, but for you guys, that’s one of the things to admire.
Oh yeah, I voted for Bush twice. If the Democrat Party started putting forward real Americans as candidates instead of weak socialist pantywaists, I might consider voting for a Democrat. Who knows, they might start winning elections.
I’m aware of it. That wasn’t where you lost me. You lost me at:
Please extrapolate.
I once had a cow that wouldn’t give milk. We put it in the freezer and had wonderful stake dinners.
Ignore the milk-less trolls and do what you want with their carcasses.
How many “undecided” ACORN workers will be in the crowd tonight?
Palin and McCain. Didn’t see that one?
I know it does. But that you’d let Palin get away with not doing any sort of press and call questions about her own claims of foreign policy experience because of how close Alaska is to Russia is pretty unbelievable.
Here’s my expectation of the type of question each candidate is likely to receive:
To McCain:
Mr. McCain, please explain when you will stop beating your wife?
To Obama:
Senator Obama, I hope you don’t mind if I change the topic (heh! heh!), but if you could describe your campaign in just 2 words, what would they be?
The Romans used to throw Christians to the lions. It’s sort of become a figure of speech to describe oppressed, persecuted people. Republicans really like that type of narrative, and often claim that they’re being oppressed or otherwise persecuted. The War on Christmas is a perfect example.
People don’t confuse a Republican with a conservative…they are no longer synonymous.
DEWEY BEATS TRUMAN! story at 11. i’ll wait for the news instead of basing my knowledge on the views of people i know are biased. IF obama wins nov 4th and IF the deciding state is not ohio which has demonstrated it’s voter fraud creds, you may rub salt into my wounds with I TOLD YOU SO. until then, i’ll wait for more reliable sources. at noon last election day, kerry was proclaimed the winner in whisper campaign on the msm due to exit polls. what happened.
That’s what I’m saying. You know, there were lots of conservatives that recognized very early on the problem with Bush, in some cases even before he was elected. That ship has sailed for you, my friend. Lots of very staunch supporters of George Bush are now furiously trying to cut away in the 11th hour because of political expediency. It’s kind of everywhere, at the moment.
Nope.
It’s McCain’s campaign, he can run it anyway he sees fit… there is plenty for us to browbeat the McCain campaign about - this is weak.
Nevermind. Either you are obtuse or you are purposefully glossing over the crux of my question. Or perhaps that’s just the best defense you can muster regarding why you are so dismissive of everything Republican, conservative and Christian. Every slight is explained away as some figment of our imagination. Perhaps you’re a figment of mine. Not sure why I would want to torture myself so, but stranger things have happened.
…umm…wishful thinking?
Yeah, I haven’t reached that elusive “desired level of proficiency” yet. I’m almost fifty, being playing for 30 years, so I’m not sure I will. Still having fun, though.
I thought the debates were suppose to be fair.
My bad i was thinking we where in a free country but since the bail out we are now in a socialist state. Welcome to the entitlement age.
You think it’s bad now, just wait til these wanks pass another Fairness Doctrine. It will be the death of intelligent discourse.
Liberals — shredding the Constitution since… aw hell, since forever.
Those of you trying to have a reasonable discussion with Digshot - be aware that this individual believes that AID’s was created by white people to kill blacks, and has no problem with the words “God Damn America”.
In other words, he’s even more loony than the average left-wing troll.
The Democratic Congress, which is even more unpopular than Bush, is your doing.
There needs to be a way we can save our country. I fear for riots if Obama loses. Is there a legal way we can get up a petition to make our representatives balance the budget, include no pork anywhere, allow no lobbyists, deport ALL illegal aliens, return to government of the people, by the people, and for the people. We need to stop reelecting criminals to office (William Jefferson), etc. I LOVE MY COUNTRY AND I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK!! We need to put God first, family, then country.
Rainbow, if Obama loses, the last thing on my mind will be riots, whether they happened or not.
But here’s a point McCain can drive home.
From Barbara Sowell via Digital Journal. Linked by another commenter (thanks Laree).
And that’s about the least damning part of the article. The rest is an eye opener.
From the same Digital Journal article linked above.
If you’ve ever wondered why we’ve heard so little about Obama’s past… there’s a reason why.
I don’t fear them, I have the second ammendment on my side. Finally! A chance to return fire!
Pianoman please stop by my blog and comment (with email if you don’t mind). I’d love to contact you on a musical level …
RWR
http://www.rightwingrocker.com
I thought you were going to say you put it in the freezer and got ice cream
Now if we got our milk from humans in the future, this statement would take on a whole new meaning. Soylent green is PEOPLE!!!!.
Once again, I would like to pass on my thanks to the congress for passing the bailout which saved the market. Clearly this blindingly brilliant peice of legislation got us to where the market is today. In fact I would like to thank you all in person. Over and over again, with what I like to call my “thank you” baseball bat. It probably will not solve anything but I will feel better for it. And feelings count right?
Reading over the comments made by the liberals on this blog makes me feel physically sick. The magnitude of the failure of “the greatest generation” to educate their children and instill values is mind-boggling. Resting on their laurels after vanquishing all our forigen enemies, they turned their children over to be indoctorinated by our internal enemies. Now they are leigon. And what our internal enemies produced was a whole generation of “progressives” that seem only to recall the last ten minutes or so of history and they haven’t the insight to discern truth from lies or right from wrong. They are willfully ignorant of history and have no sense of perspective. They lack the wisdom to apply the lessons of yesterday to today. They are incapable of respecting a differing view point and seem to think that having the loudest voice is the way to win any and all arguments. They are hateful, vicious and spiteful. They lack maturity and common sense. They are rude, lazy, whiners who have a sense of entitlement as big as the Grand Canyon. They belive they should be coddled and looked after. They have no integrity, courage or wisdom. They are weak, spineless lemmings. They were raised as spoiled brats and will remain so until the day they die. They are lost, purposeless children who have turned their backs on the wisdom of the ages and live only for self-gratification. In their tiny constricted minds they imagine themselves to have great sagacity and relevence but they are trivial and will dissapear into the dustbin of history. Just like the Germans who propelled Hitler to power. They are failures as human beings and are incapable of defending their country from her enemies, who are far better disciplined, have the courage of their convictions and are therefore stronger. They may well be remembered as the generation that killed America. Not with a bang but with a whine.
Republicans just aren’t happy unless someone is biased against them, right?
Because, there’s no such as right-wing bias, yes?
Give some examples of right-wing bias in the MSM.
This should be amusing.
Fixed it.
My predictions:
Due to “just breaking” stories trotting all over the place today, some “average joe” in the pool will miraculously come up with questions on these two topics:
1. McCain linked to group in Iran-Contra affair
and…
2. Analysis: McCain’s contrition ends over Keating
The second story, of course is about FOUR DEMOCRATS and John McCain (who, incidentally, returned donation money and cleared himself of further connection). The FOUR DEMOCRATS are referred to in the article as “the other senators.” The FOUR DEMOCRATS are never named, but the article ended thus:
Shocka!
Calm down - looks like I need to put in sarc tags!
I’m referring to the decidedly left questions that are going to be asked tonight…
Things I could give a rat’s patooty about.
FNC, Rush, Hannity
Every liberal democrat should watch this video at least once. Might change more than a few minds. or not.
Not even amusing, TOS, just downright lame.
Rush and Hannity are radio commentators aka talk show hosts, not “journalists”, which in this country until the last 30 years have operated under the perception of neutrality when covering news (as opposed to opinion). Talk show hosts have never taken a pledge of neutrality, so your examples here are completely bogus.
As to Fox News. The only reason it’s considered “right-wing” by liberals is because it is not completely left-wing like every other news network on the dial. So to liberal wackos like you, it’s “hate TV”. Please tell me who on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, or NBC plays the Alan Colmes role (i.e. stooge conservative). Again, however, Hannity & Colmes is not a news show; it’s opinion and it’s OK to have a bias in an opinion show on TV or radio. State your bias upfront and come out with guns blazing. No harm, no foul.
I have no objection to Air America. If a bunch of left-wing jerks want to piss away some other liberal’s money because they can’t develop an audience so they go bankrupt, fine by me. That’s just less money the crapweasel will have to spend on some other idiotic liberal cause. Same with the asshats that write editorials and op-ed for the NYT. I just hope I live long enough to see Pinch Sulzberger declare bankruptcy.
My objection is people like Gibson, Couric, Williams, Olbermann, Blitzer, and Matthews claiming they are objective journalists with no bias. Please give us the names of NEWS people who are as biased on the right as these clowns. You’ll never hear Brit Hume say that a Republican candidate gives him a tingle in his leg.
You’re 0 for 3 so far, TOS. Put up another quarter and try again.
Don’t confuse liberals with facts. Their brains may explode.
Okay, I’ll bite.
I’m sure that Rush and Hannity would be flabbergasted that anyone would consider them part of the MSM… they are on record (repeatedly) as considering themselves (and others like Levin, Beck, etc.) as alternative media. They also don’t insult people’s intelligence by claiming to be impartial, unlike actual MSM hacks like Gibson, Couric, Williams, et al, who are supposedly journalists. Whatever.
As for FNC, I hate to tell you this, but their coverage of news is spot on. As far as shows which are designed to spotlight opinion (Huckabee, O’Reilly, Hannity and Skeletor… um, Colmes), those shows are about opinion. Strangely, none of them are afraid to present opposing viewpoints (you know they’ll put up with anything when they have that unctuous Bill Burton on almost daily).
Do you think that CNN allowing a conservative (Beck) an hour of programming a day makes them fair or balanced?
Not even amusing, TOS. Just lame.
Rush and Hannity are talk show hosts. As such, unlike news journalists, who have traditionally worked under the pretense of neutrality in covering news stories, they can choose to be as biased as they want to be. They state their bias right up front and come out with guns blazing. No harm no foul.
It’s the same for the Air America clowns. It’s OK with me if they want to waste some other liberal crapweasel’s money because they can’t draw an audience and go bankrupt. That’s just less money that can be spent on some other idiotic liberal scheme. Same with the mental midgets who write opinion at the NYT. We know what Dowd, Herbert, Krugman, and Rich are. My only objection is they aren’t ruining the NYT fast enough. It is my fervent hope to live long enough to see Pinch Sulzberger declare bankruptcy.
As to Fox News. The only reason wackos like you think it is right wing hate TV is because it is the only channel on the dial that isn’t diehard left wing.
My objection is clowns like Couric, Williams, Gibson, Matthews, Olbermann, and Blitzer posing as “objective” journalists when every one of them carries a copy of Mao’s little red book in their hip pocket for easy reference. Guess what, you’re never going to hear Brit Hume say that a conservative candidate makes his leg tingle.
So you’re 0 for 3, TOS. Put up another quarter and try again.
Compare Rush’s and Hannity’s listernship with say NBC news? The fact that these 2 radio personalities reach so many millions of people has to qualify them as mainstream media.
Fox coverage of the “news” is pretty balanced as our CNN and MSNBC. However, there opinion shows are most definitely not. And yes opinion shows and radio programs fall under the umbrella of MSM.
If you are going to use ratings as the main determinate for membership in the MSM, then the “Big 3″ are out, and CNN is on the bubble. MSNBC isn’t even in the race.
I’ll say again, since you ignored me the first time, that Rush, Hannity, et al do not claim impartiality. They never have. If straight news is what you want, you are stuck with the above, and they are patently left.
Next.
I can say, however, that for the most part the local newscasters here in Baton Rouge are pretty even. They give you the facts and keep their opinions to themselves, unless they specifically say that they are expressing opinion. That is what news is supposed to be.
Let’s be honest… the news business is business first. They do what they must to make a buck.
It might be controlled by the Democratic party, but the Republicans are the least popular part of it. Even Republicans acknowledge that they’re most likely going to lose seats in both houses, why do you think that is?
I should have listened to you Michelle. I read this post hours before the debate aired and I still had raised expectations and was greatly disappointed. I’ll remember to listen to you next time.