This is mostly of interest to Florida readers, since they were the only ones who had the chance to see it, but last night was the first debate between the two candidates for US Senate, Mel Martinez and Betty Castor, which, since this is a key election in a key state, was moderated by Tim Russert. I don't think that I've ever heard a moderator who was as bad as he was. He wasn't particularly biased towards one candidate or the other, it's just that instead of asking questions and letting each candidate answer, and being as unobtrusive as possible, it was like watching an inquisition. He'd ask a candidate a question, and then if they weren't covering the points he wanted them to, he'd interrupt to grill them. When I watch a debate, I want to see the candidates front and center, particularly when it is such a contentious race as this one is, and the attack dog style of questioning that Russert did belongs on a Sunday morning politics show or a cable news show, not on a Senatorial debate. If I wanted to see attack dog questioning, I'd watch the O'Reilley Factor.
Preview of coming attractions: This morning I went to Bush's campaign stop in St. Pete, and got some totally awesome photos (the benefits of VIP tickets, you get to be close), so I'll be posting them tonight when I get back from work.
Posted by kathryn at Octubre 19, 2004 01:58 PM | TrackBack