Or so argues Alan Schroeder, author of Presidential Debates: Fifty-Years of High Risk TV. His analysis, posted with the Columbia University Press blog, of the shorted discussion period in the Biden/Palin VP debate notes the untenable position it placed the moderator and ultimately voters.
The CPD debates are taking shape. University hosts are preparing, Obama has signed on, moderators are announced, but where is the McCain camp? Who will lead negotiations, are they holding out for more Town Hall debates, might they accept only part of the package? Holding out for some presumed strategic position is a long employed tactic, but typically it only leads to bad headlines and a last minute acquiesce.
First presidential debate
Friday, September 26
The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss.
Jim Lehrer
Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour, PBS
Update [2007-12-13 12:56:14 by Ross Smith]: Lest you think we exaggerate, I just found this:
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My last liveblog comment was, "Awful. Just Awful." Steve called the debate "Less Than Earthshaking."
But DebateScoop's criticism was muted compared to that elsewhere. The extremely harsh reactions might be due to the fact that the expectations and stakes were high. These debates are, after all, the last debates before the Iowa caucuses, races in both parties are up for grabs, and the results may well determine who the next President of the United States is.
Whatever the reason, this debate had the worst reviews of any we have seen since DebateScoop was founded in August of 2006.
The first problem was that this event had too little give and take to merit being called a debate. Even the Des Moines Register's David Yepsin did not spare his own colleagues on that score:
"The biggest problem with the debate was that it wasn't really a debate. Candidates got almost no opportunity to grill one another. Often they ran out of time and were cut off just as they started to probe an opponent.The event would have been more nourishing had the format allowed for more back-and-forth."
Dean Barnett of the Weekly Standard is not as measured as the home town colleague:
I'm sure there are people in Iowa who could capably moderate a presidential debate. Unfortunately, and obviously, Carolyn Washburn is not one of them.The bulk of the post-debate analysis will probably focus on how maladroit Washburn was at the job. She did the impossible--she moderated the last Iowa debate between the Republican candidates before caucuses and yet saw to it that none of the candidates engaged each other. In other words, the moderator ensured that the debate would be as lively as a 12 part PBS series on "How Grass Grows."
A personal aside to the Des Moines Register--"boring" is not synonymous with "serious."
The problems went beyond Washburn's lack of mad moderating skillz. From the outset, Washburn announced that the candidates would not be discussing either Iraq or immigration. Swell! It's the biggest debate of the season, so let's take the two biggest issues off the table. For what it's worth, Washburn brought all the charm to her assignment of a latter-day Nurse Ratched.
Whether from left, right or center, from blogger or mainstream journalist, the reactions to the format, moderator, questions, and resultant "debate" tended to be closer to Barnett's than to Yepsin's. "Highlights" are in the extended entry.
Update [2007-5-15 16:6:31 by Ross Smith]: We mourn the passing of Rev. Jerry Falwell, 73. Academic debate had no better support from a university president than the support he gave the Liberty team. The team, encouraged to argue and understand both sides of even the most controversial social issues, was his pride and joy. Their Director, Brett O'Donnell is on leave to work as John McCain's debate advisor. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Liberty debate family.
Check back for our liveblog and "First Analysis" posts for more on tonight's 9 p.m. EDT debate and join us at 11:30 p.m. EDT on 
.
Meanwhile, read more below for the pre-debate items of special interest. Check out the preview post below, too, worth its pixels for Alan Coversotne's comment alone.
Conservative
Centrist
Liberal
Specialized
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