Anderson Cooper is coming off like an ass.

He's not being terribly nice to anyone, and that is his job.

I think he's doing fine.

He's been pretty pointed with all of them.

And he's also thrown all of 'em a few bones, too.

They never get asked pointed questions.

They need to get rid of at least half of them before they can have a conversation.

but those journalists should be able to hack it. Aren't they supposed to be the best?

It's hard to watch.

It's opposition research based questions and follow ups.

The GOP can't play "gotcha" if the matter--whatever it might be-- has already been discussed.

The double standard is obvious.

They haven't gotten to the "spokesmodel" portion with the GOP at all--it's still "How does that one LOOK?" with those guys.

You have to understand that the campaigns have been muscling CNN about how the debate will go down, and he is doing what he is able to elicit genuine, non-canned responses. It's just part and parcel of this sham debate system.

The one who shall not be named is lying like a rug. She actually said TPP was just negotiated last week.

Sanders wasn't even paying attention and was spooked when asked to rebuff a question.

He's throwing out questions to ADULTS.

Speaking of ass, if I was single I'd throw my ass in front of Andy Coop in a minute.

He didn't let them avoid the questions either.

He proved he is no lightweight in this role. I also think he gave our candidates a lot of good opportunities to confront and defang the inevitable questions and accusations that the Republicans will throw at them.

We always complain when a journalist allows a politician to slip out from under answering a question, or when a journalist fails to ask follow-up questions. Cooper did exactly what we always say we want the interviewers to do with politicians, and I think he did a fine job--and in doing so allowed our candidates many opportunities to shine, to prove themselves so much more serious than any of the Republican candidates.

Oh, and I absolutely loved it when O'Malley smacked DWS upside the head for her rigging of the debate schedule.

You want softballs? That would make for a really boring debate.