I have blogged that the debate moderators were good: Jim Lehrer, Gwen Ifill, and Charlie Gibson are all liberals, yet all moderated moderately fair debates.
Not so with CBS's Bob Schieffer -- wow! His left wing bias shown through. After the RaTHergate contretemps, some folks are holding up as proof of CBS in Kerry's camp, including Tim Graham at NRO
Bob Schieffer was easily the worst moderator of the four selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the one who most clearly favored John Kerry. This might not be surprising — after all, CBS has emerged this year as the network favoring John Kerry to the point of spreading forged documents across the country to paint Bush as a man who defied orders.The spin was apparent from the first question, when Schieffer asked, "Will our children and grandchildren ever live in a world as safe and secure as the world in which we grew up?" This echoes the Kerry back-to-normalcy theme, that we should have less terror over terror. A week ago, Gwen Ifill jumped on the latest war news, Paul Bremer's saying that more troops were needed in Iraq. Schieffer failed to press Kerry on the most recent controversy over his statement that terrorism should be a "nuisance," like prostitution and gambling. He also failed to ask about John Edwards's suggesting people in wheelchairs would walk if Kerry and Edwards were elected.
That's not much of a defense and I don't intend to offer a better one, but I think Bob has been in the CBS cocoon for so long, he just instinctively writes questions that sound like Mary Beth Cahill.
To Schieffer, I'm sure a lack of flu vaccine is a clear government failure. Didn't our brave boys fight at Valley Forge to ensure a reliable vaccine supply from our defeated foes?
Yup, high marks for the unlikely fair trio of Ifill, Lehrer and Gibson. A D- for Schieffer -- and I am being kind!