What If ABC Held a Debate, but Forgot to Show Up?

Read more reactions from Huffington Post bloggers to ABC's Pennsylvania Democratic debate

All night long, every time I'd think about the ABC "debate" (sic), three reactions rose up - 1) grind my teeth to an angry pulp, 2) let my head explode, or 3) type something to let the steam out.

This morning, I still can't believe I was able to make it through 45 minutes of the broadcast.

This was topflight journalism at its worst. This was ABC's old, flimsy history with threadbare sizzle packaged as news. It was a tabloid debate with tabloid questions. Matt Drudge come to life on a respectable stage. From what I subsequently discovered, they actually, eventually got around to real issues -- after over an hour. But watching it for a mere 45 minutes made me feel almost seedy. I wanted to shower to get the smarm off. I love news, I admire professional journalists, I cherish the Mainstream Media, even when they flounder, because it is the core of democracy. But this was embarrassing. This was pathetic. This was just a cheesy press conference with cheesy questions.

Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos should be ashamed. I'm sure they have all of their reasons wrapped nicely with a bow, explaining why they asked what they asked and why it was proper and good and noble. Sorry, it wasn't. They put this on in prime time across the nation, and turned it into a slimy, Fox Network reality show. A cross between Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire? and Temptation Island. Something like, So, You Want to Be President?!

This was a disservice to America.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are running for President of the United States. It's a job that really, seriously matters. There are critically important issues facing the nation, right now. Last week, 81% of Americans said that they felt that the country had pretty seriously gotten off-track. There's the five-year Iraq War with 4,000 Americans dead and trillions spent. A national deficit pushing the country to recession. The G8 nations have expressed their tottering concern about the dollar. Global warming has put the entire globe at risk. The president and his top cabinet advisor are discovered in a memo to have discussed how to allow torture.

And for the first hour, the very first things these moderators could think of asking the two people in line to become the most powerful person in the world was -- what one of their pastors said? Who else also sat on a community board with him? Whether he used the best syntax in describing anger in America?

This was shameless. Hurtful.

And for all the post-debate commentators saying how "on the defensive" Barack Obama was -- most of them should be ashamed, as well, not pointing out how ghastly the questions were. They failed, as well.

What I saw during the "debate" (sic) made me completely agree with Senator Obama saying repeatedly that these questions are about things that don't matter in the lives of Americans. He wasn't "defensive." He was right. There's a difference. He answered the questions - same as he'd answered the questions before. But --

What his pastor said...Does Not Matter.

Who he served on a community board with...Does Not Matter.

Whether he is elitist for using the word "bitter"...Does Not Matter.

What matters is that there are angry people in Pennsylvania, and in America. What matters is what issues Barack Obama was dealing with on that community board he was a member of. What matters is what Barack Obama himself says.

What matters is the Iraq War. Torture. The Economy. Education. The price of gas. Domestic spying on Americans. Global warming. National security.

If Mr. Gibson and Mr. Stephanopoulos felt so-deeply compelled to toss in some of their Questions Lite -- even though they'd been asked and addressed repeatedly through the past weeks -- that's fine, ask them, at least the ones that dance on the edge of substance. But have the decency to hold them to later, after you've established the gravitas of the debate. Because otherwise, when you start by throwing out chum for the first hour, what you establish is that these are the things that "matter." And what comes later, nah, that's just afterthought.

Republican pundits do themselves no good pushing these empty topics, which they do only because they have no platform to run on. And Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos bought into it.

And Hillary Clinton did herself no good either by repeating that these things matter -- saying that "the Republicans will bring them up." News Flash: the Republicans will bring up just as much about her. And those won't substantively matter either. Or even necessarily be true.

Hillary Clinton has much good in her abilities. She has qualities that could make her an excellent president. But we are watching a person disintegrate before our eyes, throwing out the quality of her past and risking her future.

But this isn't about Hillary Clinton. This is about Charles Gibson, George Stephanopoulos and ABC "News." They were given a high responsibility to broadcast in the public interest. Instead, they spent the time in the empty gutter.

For the network of Lost and Desperate, they were both.

Read more reactions from Huffington Post bloggers to ABC's Pennsylvania Democratic debate

Comments

[leftoflennon]

Well Said. My brows are still knitted...­.cant believe what I witnessed last night..

[teribeaugez]

Lol, after the way Campbell Brown sucked Obama's toes, and Tim Russert looked like a vicious troll ready to leap over the table at Clinton, I think it's pretty rich that Obama supporters and the Obamedia are crying over this debate. This is far from the nastiest questioning in a debate, but for a change some of it was aimed at Obama. The problem wasn't the format or questions, it was Obama's performance. If he'd handled his responses really well, y'all would be rejoicing and showering him with praise. He didn't.

For the record, I still think the flag pin crap is nonsense. And I'll concede that MAYBE because I've seen so much bias against Clinton, a little bias against Obama isn't visible to me. Either way, she's faced the firing line in these debates numerous times, and the bias was obvious - it's a little late, and lame, to be crying fowl now, and the media uproar coming to his defense just makes that more obvious.

This debate was the most fair one yet. I liked that the responses were timed, and each were given an equal amount of time. I liked that the questions were staggered, and that they "flipped a coin" to see who would go first on opening and closings. I was impressed that both were challenged with tough questions and not allowed to wiggle out of fully answering.

ABC handled this debate in a very admirable way, the way journalists should handle debates. Anyone remember

[babar77]

You're missing the point completely. This has absolutely NOTHING to do with bias, and everthing to do with sh-tty questions. Did you really learn anything of importance?

Debates should not be about what is fair - it should be about what MATTERS. Hillary suggesting she'd nuke Iran was the most important thing to come out in that debate, and no one is covering it.

[DoTheMath]

Obama has proved beyond any doubt that he can stay on the high road despite unbelievable provocation. The other three participants in last night's performance have proved that I am capable of screaming profanities I have never used before at my TV screen. Oh, and they also demonstrated quite skillfully why we desperately need CHANGE.

[DLSteinhardt]

I agree ABC's debate was disgusting in its shallowness.

Let me point out one error in your piece. No "81 percent of Americans" said anything last week. That was one poll, with a margin of error of over 3 points, with a confidence in that margin of error of less than 95%, so let's remember what it was: JUST ONE POLL, from one sample.

For more on why individual polls should NEVER be reported on as top news, see

http://www.atlargely.com/2008/04/the-margin-of-e.html

[JackW]

ABC did what NBC/MSNBC and CNN did in the past, only difference is where the bias was. This time it was in favour of Clinton, whereas all the others were in favour of Obama. Gibson/Ste­phanopolou­s are mirror images of Russert/Williams.
They did miss one question though...d­id Hillary need a cushion?

[LeftLeaner]

JackW, don't forget she WAS asked about her Bosnia fantasy.

It wasn't all directed at Obama, but for the first time I didn't find myself screaming at my TV at the so-called moderators for endlessly badgering Clinton.

It seems the Obamaniacs are not taking this very well.

It seems even handedness is not their strong suit.

[oneviciouslife]

I honestly don't recall, can you give me examples of how the past debates have been biased against Clinton? I don't remember any of them being so obviously biased towards one candidate as they were last night.

[babar77]

lol - evenhandedness is not our strong suit?

Apparently, things that matter is not your strong suit - nor has it ever been a strong suit of the Clintons. If you think that the first hour of that debate had anything of substance, it truly worries me that you have even the tiniest voice in our countries' policy.

At least the Bosnia thing was about something a candidate actually said, however even that should have been something towards the end or left out all together. We all know Clinton's a bold faced liar, and debates should be about something new.

[aricogfj]

I guess we will see the real pulse when Sat Night Live takes their stand....t­he debate was a freak show

[Syco]

Despite the horrible questions it wasn't as bad as I expected?

[SteveClements]

I still don't get it. They jump all over Obama because of the bitter word, Rev Wright, flag pins, and what someone he may loosely be associated with has said or done years ago. Has anybody noticed that her nuclear umbrella over the whole Mid-East has made her more of a hawk than even McCain and the neo-cons? That she has staked the ground of fighting for those "average" Americans making over $100,000 a year, or has anyone even commented on her praising "the great American Drug companies" at the so-called compassion forum? Those are real issues, real gaffes, and real examples of eltism, but not one pundit has yet commented on them. The media establishment sure seems to be in cahoots in taking Obama and his people's campaign down.

[NoMoreDrama]

I think Obama's association with Kevin Bacon and elitist hollywood values needs to be explored some more before it erupts in the General Election. Also Clinton's ties to Kevin Bacon and his crappy band need to be exposed as the threat to our nation that it is. And McCain can't claim immunity on the national security crisis that is Kevin Bacon's relationship with him, Cindy and his entire campaign. The media really needs to get to the bottom of the Global Hollywood Elitist Caliphate that Kevin Bacon and his legion of 6 billion associates want to impose on the U.S. I predict, that the General Election will be won or lost, depending on what REALLY is in Kevin Bacon's trash. Be afraid.

[CeciliaBertrand]

lol

[JTex]

I guess Charile won't get the coveted Hardball-type show ABC is bringing out. What was it called? Oh yeah, "Whiffleball". Airy. Holey. Childish.

[busybeez]

It was a disgrace and a slap in the face to all of us Americans who are going through some really hard times. I cried...be­cause the media just doesn't get it and want to focus on stupid unimportant tabloid crap. And since when did it become mandatory in the U.S. to wear a flag pin? That's not patriotism, that's facism!

[ohnoyoudidnot!]

Exactly! I didn't cry, though. I emailed ABC and called the president of ABC news...

[PrdAmerican]

Be you a clintonista or an obamaton, this debate was shameful and a dark stain on the profession of journalism. America is the realy loser in all of this....ye­t again, profits trump ethics, morality, and integrity. ABC had an obligation to the American people, the citizens of remaing states to vote, to their shareholders, and democracy.­..given the choice of doing what is right vs. wrong..the­y clearly chose the latter and crapped all over democracy. Based on the negative backlash, they also hurt their bottom line and their shareholde­rs...becau­se I would assume that many people, such as myself, will be shutting ABC off.

[krocklin]

Finally there is a little light shining on the debacle that the mainstream media cynically pawns off on the public and tries to pass off as an examination of the candidates and their take on the issues.

The League of Women Voters used to host some of these debates, and in the format they would design no such tabloid questions would be permitted - and yet ABC gave us nothing but for almost the entire hour.

Indeed, it's as if Sean Hannity or Fox News were feeding in the questions.

[citadelgrrl05]

oh Krocklin FYI.. Sean Hannity did suggest one of the question to George when he was on his morning show.. How disgusting!!!

[2351]

You know, Sean Hannity is going to get everything that is coming to him. He is one of the most horrible people that I've ever witnessed. You know that he has a relationship with Hal Turner and for this hypocrit, who calls himself a christian, and who also lives in a glass house to cast stones is the highest level of hypocrisy. But you know, if George asked a question because Hannity asked him to, then George should be fired for letting Hannity influence him into doing something inappropriate.

[pattyfish]

I have watched every debat.....­..last night...no­t so much...ano­ther debate with stupid...s­tupid...st­upid..if you say it three times...wi­ll the networks hear it.......w­hen political junkies can't take it anymore...­...enough already..

I popped in "Big Trouble in Little China"

We are bored....m­ove it along here people....­who cares if Hilary told a BIG FISH story about Bosnia....
Who cares if Barrack's Pastor is an angry "black man" in America...­...

McCain will not need to campaign..­.the democrats are self imploding.­.......sto­p the bleeding..­....

[jaglon]

This is exactly why we got involved in Iraq. The news people never asked hard questions and instead pandered to the stupidity coming out of Washinton (freedom fries and other conservative B.S.). They wanted that war so they could up their ratings or at least that is what it seemed to be to me.

I too was opposed to this war and it was very frustrating to watch these news anchors never ask the tough questions during the run-up to the war. In fact, they seemed to be cheering the war on. So yes, I have a very jaded attitude toward most people connected to MSM. They are so lazy and are easily bought out of with BBQ and attention. I guess they think most of us are stupid.