A 'Terrible' Debate Performance By Brokaw and Organizers

We've come to lower our expectations for real debates in the "debate" process, but this one was terrible.

Who picked the questions from the, we were told, six million sent in online plus the dozens from the people in the hall? The first half was fine but then why go into the same foreign policy questions raised two weeks ago -- knowing they were certain to draw the very same, almost word for word responses? After kicking off the debate by saying we were in the worst economic crisis in 80 years?

The transcript for the last half hour could have been typed up in advance.

Remember, this was supposed to be the "domestic policy" debate. Yet there we were once again talking about raids on Pakistan and defending Israel. Brokaw and the organizers let down the American public.

Brokaw kept complaining that the candidates were not staying within their time limits--and then did nothing to stop them beyond pleading with them to, maybe, keep an eye on the flashing lights, pretty please, huh?

And his "follow up" questions were weak.

I thought I'd never say this but -- maybe they should let the blogosphere handle the next one.
*
Greg Mitchell is editor of Editor & Publisher. His new book on Iraq and the media is "So Wrong for So Long."

Read more reactions to the Obama-McCain Town Hall Debate from HuffPost bloggers

Comments

[JFaye]

Tom Brokaw's performance was almost as poor as Mr. McCain. Perhaps he wanted to spare his friend embarrassment, had he along with Mr. Obama outperformed him as well.

Our youth, particularly those who are college students or have recently graduated, have been pivotal in election process. Why no one thought to have a more youthful moderator for at least one debate is mind-boggling. If history is the prologue (thank you Joe Biden) for the next major election, we absolutely must choose better moderators.

[Fremon]

Seems to me we pick the moderators out of the media. Whose said they are the best to monitor a debate. Most like Brokaw, have no gravitas and are intellectually challenged. They are picked for their positions because they look good on TV and have "TV" voices. Look at the total Fox lineup. Why was Couric picked? Because they thought she would appeal to the early morning crowd. Same for Brokaw. Get some intelligence in the spot (there are no more Murrow's and Cronkite's on TV}. Try Professor's of Economics or Foreign relations from our best universities. Try a Rachel Maddow with a PhD. The executives at the networks go for appeal and not gravitas. They want ratings at the expense of expertise and select those they think have it. In the UK these are called news presenters as in "now presenting the news". But then again the news departments have to make profits and therefore ratings are the vehicle so news dwindles to entertainment. My roomate in the Navy became a talking head at a local news station in a medium-large city. He had no background in history and of ordinary intellect but had great voice. That gives me some yardstick to see how news is made. Then the final straw is the Bush Secretary Dana Perino the best empty suit around. Didn't even have history or knew about the Cuban missile crisis. She will be our next TV anchor at Fox.

[PatrickforO]

I'm really glad you wrote this. Reflecting on this last 'debate' leaves me wondering why someone set such a stupid rule as two minutes for an answer. I fear our mainstream media has a pathological, yet incurable, penchant for the seven second sound bite. Tell me, can you do a credible job of outlining the causes of our current economic crisis in two minutes? I can't. It would take me at least twenty to go over it all, and even then I would not be confident I did it justice. By the way, did any of you think McCain patronized the first audience questioner who asked how the bailout package would help him? I thought Obama did a much more credible job on this, though his answer was necessarily grossly incomplete because of the asenine time limitations. God! This country is about to enter another great depression and we give TWO MINUTES for presidential candidates to talk about 'the issues.' PATHETIC!!

[Apocalypse1]

We were all cheated with Tim Russert's death.

[xmascarol]

They need to have a commentator like Diane Reihms who knows how to ask a good question, won't take guff from her interviewees, nor from the questioners. She keeps her program on target, and she would do a great job running a presidential debate.

[lunarmodule]

Wow, you are so dead on. Diane is amazing. Did you hear her with Mike Wallace? She didn't let him squirm...and he's a pro!

[SD leaker]

Brokaw is a dinosaur of mainstream media. Rules were set by campaign commissions that has no interest in a great debate, but only in minimizing risk. So the negotiate in such a maniacal way that the neutralize any debate. Then you have MSM dominated by AlPAC whos priority is lsraeI, and caring one bit about Palestine.

[t mout]

Brokaw was clearly for McCain. He should have told him sit down and shut up (oh, that term is politically incorrect). He tried to talk down to Obama. Yet, Obama stayed focus and sat down quietly and respectfully when grandpa took fifteen minutes to transcribe Brokaw's question. Maybe he should have brought his blackberry or something to take notes quicker.

[doctordoubt]

It is well known that Brokaw is in the tank with the repugs. What i don't get, is why they can't come up with an idependent, or at least someone who is unbiased. Where is Tim when we really need a calm voice? God speed Tim, we dearly miss you.

[TheAntiLiberalVoice]

I don't know what you were watching, but Brokaw had to check himself so he didn't seem biased.
Unlike your opinion. Who Cares?

[dora rice]

WHEN I HEARD BROKAW WAS MONITERING I KNEW IT WILL BE UP TO NO GOOD FOR WHATEVER REASON. THESE OLD HORSES NEED TO STAY RETIRED.

[NotMcCain]

Brokaw constrained the questions into things that McCain has answered many times before.

His ego (and political bias) made him completely unsuited for a "townhall" format.

I was really looking forward to hearing REAL questions that people had, somewhat like the Internet ones from CNN's debate in the primary which were actually quite interesting.

Brokaw sucked the life out of the questions AND (with his continued "thanks" to McSame and rebukes to Obama) out of the "debate" (really, "exchange").

Terrible, terrible choice.

[prudd]

Brokaw is the greatest generation guy. We're over that. We need people who haven't been bought to deliver our news, and Brokaw's been bought many times over. Ifil and Lehrer, although constrained by too many rules, are much much better. They are intellectually curious; Brokaw just isn't. Given the bold new context he is working in today, including public television, but maybe more importantly, fake news, he's just looks, and is ... irrelevant.

The blogosphere as a source could be good, but how do you vet which members speak? The suggestion smacks of populism or maybe even anarchy which seems to be an increasingly viable political guage these days - yesterday's focus groups have today's personal emotion dials, McCain's mob gets lots of play.

[aisling]

I think Prudd is soo right in pointing out Brokaw was a terrible moderator. I find him offensive. I fouind the questions he asked stale. Why doesn't any of these moderators ask J. McCain, what he means by "Victory", in Iraq. He gets away with that ridiculous claim all the time.
I thought Brokaw was condescending to Obama about time limits,without pointing to John Mc Cain's going over those limits. I find Brokaw an arrogant and full of self mportance that is unwarranted. The debate was a bust. McCain got away with alot of false statements and gestures to ingratiate himself with the audience,while turning his back on a black woman asking him a question.

[SurrealPumpkin]

Why not go to academics who are well known in their field? One thing is for sure, the really good professors know how to keep restive students quiet. I suggest Academics simply to avoid the problem of partisanship.

[Raccoon]

Obama, the man who thinks he’s going to be President, has no economic experience whatsoever. What he is talking about doesn’t add up to a row of beans. One, he wishes to raise taxes, which you should not do at a moment like this. Two, he wishes to spend billions of dollars to improve the infrastructure of the country. That he has to think it through carefully. He hasn’t said how. Thirdly, he hopes that by encouraging people to take up the health care for everyone in a manner he suggested, it will solve all the problems. All these are very simplistic words spoken brilliantly by someone who can speak well and talks easily but if you look at the depth of his arguments, they mean very little. His knowledge and his experience are limited and it is fearful not only for his country but for the rest of the world to think that he thinks already that he is the President of the United States. So let’s all hope that this doesn’t happen and that we have an opportunity to have someone who has experience and listens to others and will take a view of sensible precaution to get us out of this mess.

[kevinmcd]

The so called tax inrease is only reversing the huge tax cuts on those making over a quarter million dollars that Bush made at the start of his first term. That will go along way in paying for the infrastructure and healh care plans. It is laughable to suggest that Mccain would have "sensible precaution" given he is impulsive and erratic as demonstrated by his roll out of his $300 million dollar mortgage buy out which he changed twice and his dangerous choice of Sara Palin as VP!

[SurrealPumpkin]

Repairing the infrastructure is not only vital for national security it will also provide jobs in an economic climate that is seeing jobs dry up by the thousands. People with jobs buy stuff, pay taxes in other words, contribute to the health of economic engine.

[Knowitall]

I also thought referring to fixing the infrastructure as a negative, was bizarre. No public servant can ignore the infrastructure for very long. When roads, bridges, buildings, aging neighborhoods, etc. are in disrepair, and when damage like that wrought by Katrina and other disasters go unattended (we've already had another major bridge collapse in the last year), the country quickly begins to look like any other underdeveloped country. Anyone who's visited a country like that does not want that to happen to America. But it will if we don't address our aging infrastructure issues now.

And, the health care system is another disaster waiting to happen, especially with millions of baby boomers poised to retire in the next few years. The health system for everyone will be affected by this influx. You're not thinking ahead "my friend".

Oh, by the way, McCain is the one who famously said "I don't know very much about the economy," and has gone on to prove it unequivocally. His running mate knows even less than he does.

So, Obama's knowledge, having helped fashion economic policy and budgets for a major American city for 10 years and reviewed and helped pass budgets in the U.S. Senate for the last two, along with Biden's long-time experience in these endeavors
would be a much better choice for you this year.

(Sorry, I wasn't quite sure what the rest of it meant.)

[Fremon]

Look some idiot lady, at a recent McCain rally, said she has "read a lot" and thinks Obama is a Muslim. Now how do you get there from anyplace. I only saw her back but she looked like she came from under a bridge somewhere. What scares me is that she said she read a lot (what and who said Obama was a Muslim? A far right wingnut publicaation?) What hurts is this and others like her can cancel my vote. That's Democracy but it makes me wonder why I spent three years of active service as a Naval Reserve Officer prepared to defend this country and its low information voters.

[mpell]

I got to your third sentence and had to stop reading. You are either one of the lucky people making over $250,000 a year, or you can't read and/or don't listen. How many times does Senator Obama have to make his tax policy clear? You just refuse to listen. Now I will go back and read the rest of what you have written, or at least as much as I can stand.

[doctordoubt]

The infrastructure you denounce, is the levees that failed, the bridge that went down in Minn. and many others that are at risk. The infrastructure is what this country lives and breathes on. The current mindset is that 'it wil last' for awhile, anyway. Current events have proven it wrong, yet again.

[shirleybob2]

John McCain drove me crazy as he wandered around the stage, even as Obama was speaking. He looked like he was lost and needed someone to show him where his chair was.

[pmarie]

To call these exchanges "debates" is a ludicrous endeavor and the time constraints for answering complex questions serves no purpose except to encourage small blips of scripted information designed to fit into a sound byte. These are not "debates" within or outside the "town hall" setting. The entire process is designed front, back & center so that candidates have no choice but to simpify & cram their answers into senseless condensations that allude to vs. consolidate specific positions.

As I watch the encouraged "mob mentality" of McCain/Palin's encitement tactics (when free of these constraints), I am reminded of Hitleresque speeches that gave way to crowds of angry Aryans ready to take out their frustrations on Jews, dissidents, homosexuals & basically anyone "different" from their own self-perceived perfection. We are seeing this fightening behavior now & we are seeing Palin & McCain pander to it.

When will the tables turn? If guilt by association is somehow an indication of one's personal character both Palin & McCain should be very, very afraid. SHE can't bring herself to mention the real name of her own religion (Pentecostalism) and HE has 26 years of countless associations that could plummet his lily white ass into hell & back again. All of which may very well backfire if opponents fire back with undeniable facts. At some point WE as a nation & a community need to STAND UP vs. GULP the crap being dumped on the American psyche.

[TheAntiLiberalVoice]

America keeps voting McCain in though. Why don't you take a pill courtesy of the future socialist healthcare system that will bankrupt our country and bring the quality of healthcare down.
You deserve the best the gov't can afford.

[wmholt]

Obama will bankrupt the country? I believe that has already been done by the Bush administration. Maybe Obama will do something else you might not like, but bankrupting the country has already been claimed by the Republicans.

[Fremon]

McCain accepts the government sponsored health care for himself. He has never had to have private insurance. Why can't we get what he gets? We work for this country as well.

[FarmetteReport]

My husband had to work the night of the Nashville debate and wasn't able to watch on TV or even to listen to it on the radio. The next morning, as as I tried to tell him about the debate, I railed about the time parameters that made for shallow sound-bite responses and the idiotic questions that were supposedly picked from tens of thousands (if not millions) of submitted questions.

My spouse, whose debate expectations were admittedly low, still thought I was exaggerating a bit - that is until I said: "Yes or no: Is Russia evil?"

My DH then lowered his head into his hands with a deep sigh and said, "Tell me Brokaw didn't actually ask that question."

[youngharry]

Brokaw is morally and intellectually dishonest. He is a Republican and cannot get beyond his ideology. As an example, this debate was supposed to be about domestic issues, yet Brokaw, thinking that foreign affairs was McCain's strong suit let the debate go there to help the befuddled, angry, old man who walked around the room looking lost.

AND, immediately after Obama gave a great answer, Brokaw jump him with a question that he thought would stump Obama. the question was, hold your breath---

We know the "Bush Doctrine", but what is the "Obama Doctrine"?

Probably a good question for a debate on foreign affairs, but not one for a debate that was supposed to be about "Domestic Issues".

Sorry, Brokaw has killed his reputation as a journalist and has become nothing more than a hack pundit, with a political right-wing flavor.

He will NEVER be trusted by me or thousands like me ever again.

[TheAntiLiberalVoice]

You poor soul. I will pray that your eyes shall be opened to see the truth. The devil brings many deceptions to you and you believe your liberial decietful brothers. You must believe it is better to Reign in Hell than to Serve in Heaven.

[Mysticalsister]

Poor Tom telegraphed his preference with the red tie -- not a great beginning, and then he just laid there. He brought no energy, no conviction, nothing to the event. Jim Lehrer did the same thing.

If this is what presidential or VP debates are going to look like in American from now on, no one is going to bother to watch them.

90 minutes of watered down intermitant campaign speeches is a waste of time.

[RepublicanHacksaw]

Lincoln-Douglas 2008 is was not.

[SurrealPumpkin]

At least it was alot shorter.