That fact that North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis agreed to have George Stephanopolous moderate his most recent debate with Kay Hagan (and Norah O’Donnell from CBS moderate the first), makes me question his judgment. In Iowa, however, both the Republican and Democrat Senate candidates wisely told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to stay home.
Erik Wemple at the Washington Post reports:
[B]oth sides opposed bringing in a national-stature type like Stephanopoulos and instead lobbied for someone with state bona fides. “They both said we would prefer” a homegrown moderator, says Curry.
The campaigns confirmed as much. “There are many smart, talented reporters here in Iowa who have a deep understanding of the issues that matter to our state. So we suggested that Iowa reporters should moderate the debate in Sioux City hosted by KCAU-TV,” e-mailed Sarah Benzing, the campaign manager for Braley for Iowa. And Ernst campaign spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel e-mailed, “We wanted to have local anchors moderate the debates because they know Iowa issues best.” Tim Seaman from KCAU and Amanda Krenz from WOI in Des Moines will preside over the debate.
That of course makes perfect sense for both sides. But why would any sane Republican who wants to win an election put him or herself at the mercy of a former Clinton operative like George “Birth Control” Stephanopoulos?
Time and again and again we have watched elite mainstream media “journalists” pick our guys off one at a time with loaded gotcha questions, and worse.
Partisans disguised as reporters — which is pretty much all of the national media — should not be allowed near any debate … ever. Worse still, national media figures like O’Donnell and Stephanopoulos increase the chances that a debate mistake will go national and damage the GOP as a whole.
And we all know that with three-plus weeks left until the midterm elections, the national media is desperately seeking and even willing to create another Todd Akin.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC
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