Wolf Blitzer was openly and inappropriately ridiculing Edwards

[JDPriestly]

and showing favoritism toward Hillary. If you listen carefully to the portion of the video at Edwards website, www.johnedwards.com debateblog (first video), toward the beginning of his statement, you will hear Edwards state "Nobody is perfect up here . . ." AS EDWARDS IS SPEAKING, interrupting Edwards, Wolf Blitzer audibly states" "Aw, come on now." It is inappropriate for a moderator to make such a comment during a debate. This is unprofessional.

In addition, the question to Hillary about the diamonds or pearls was sexist.

Why is the Democratic Party allowing the Republican media to manage the debates like this? The party is relinquishing control to the media. This should not be happening. Why aren't political science professors, law professors, leaders in the Democratic Party, etc. chosen to moderate the debates? Why aren't we having town halls instead of media run debates? The Wolf Blitzers should be cut out. Wolf Blitzer is a mainstream corporate shill. Of course he favors Hillary. His job depends upon favoring Hillary. From what I can tell this debate was an attempt to marginalize Edwards. Edwards is our best candidate. Hillary will lose. That is why people like Blitzer want her to win the primary. What are we going to do about this? Not only is democracy being stolen from us, but our own party is being taken away from us. What should we do? CNN does not pay any attention to our e-mails, letters and calls.

[robertsams]

1. Blitzer

Wolf sucks

[bigwillq]

3. Hello.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[rodeodance]

2. He tried to outdo RussTURD who did the same to DK two weeks ago.

[liberal N proud]

4. Wolf is always unprofessional and inappropriate

I can't stand to watch him.

[jgraz]

5. I couldn't watch

Wolfy has entered the rarefied pantheon of tv faces that I can't stand to see for more that a few seconds. :puke:

[Whisp]

22. that scrub brush head isn't good enough to clean toilets.

what a pathetic enabling whining jackass.

[muntrv]

6. Make Wolf wear an RNC badge every time he appears on teevee.

[tired_old_fireman]

7. Good point

Did you also notice Blitzer was cutting Edwards off everytime he got going on an answer. He also didn't allow Edwards to respond to Clinton's direct attack on his healthcare stance. It was certainly biased treatment.

[tsuki]

8. I remember when the debates where held by the League of

Women Voters. They seem to have been moderated much better. No corporate agenda.

[hisownpetard]

9. Blitzer stinks. However, I heard the remark and, for some reason, was under the impression

that Biden said it.

I thought it was shameful that a young woman from the audience ended the debate with that sexist question.
She should've known better.

And I totally agree about the poor and biased attitude of Blitzer, Russert, etc. I think Keith Olbermann did the best job
of all and the others are just a bunch of bullying egomaniacs who care more about padding their resumes than getting
to the bottom of core issues, in order to best inform the voting public.

I also think the disrespect which was shown to Kucinich was shameful. I still haven't been able to get past that. How
dare they?

[FrenchieCat]

10. Po' Po' John Edwards.......

He is such a victim! :cry:

Guess Putin, Syria and Iran et al will treat Edwards so much more "fairly" if only Edwards were President!

[tired_old_fireman]

12. You make a joke of it now

but it won't be so funny in when our nominee is given the same treatment in the general election

[Cameron27]

17. Where were you when Russert was tearing apart Clinton,

while waving an old 1993 doc in her face, and fabricating a story about Bill refusing to release his records, when the matter rests in the hands of George Bush?

[tired_old_fireman]

19. What's your point?

What Russert did was just as bad.

A lot of people here seem quick to forget that the media created the perception that George Bush beat Al Gor and john Kerry in debates. How did they do that--with biased questioning and by contolling the spin. The last two debates just reiterated to me how screwed we will be in the general election.

[Cameron27]

21. My point is this.

Were you complaining as much about the last debate as you are about this one. I don't remember a single protest from you, although I certainly can be wrong. Why don't you point to some of those replies, or else I may begin to think that you're being a little hypocrital here.

[tired_old_fireman]

24. It would be hypocrytical if I defended Russert or bashed Clinton after the last debate.

If I post about ONE injustice, I'm not hypocritical for not pointing out ALL injustices. Give me a break.

[JDPriestly]

25. I complained about that 1993 document.

And I am also complaining about the sexist pearls or diamonds question. I am an Edwards supporter, and a strong one, but I do not like these unfair put-downs of any of our candidates. Let them speak for themselves. And I want unbiased debates, not favoring any candidate. It's OK to put the candidates under pressure about defending their policy stances, but not by interrupting and being discourteous about it. If Code Pink had interrupted George Bush or Nancy Pelosii in the way Wolf Blitzer interrupted Edwards last night, Code Pink would have been dragged out of the debate in handcuffs, maybe even tasered.

[RaleighNCDUer]

30. Bullshit.

Any former president can release any of his records, provided they do not impinge upon national security. Bush claiming otherwise would not stand up to a challenge - it is only based upon an executive order, not a law. The fact is Clinton does not choose to challange it.

[Cameron27]

13. Really, he can dish it out real good

but he can't take the heat from Wolfie, Clinton or Dennis Kucinich. "cute"

[BootinUp]

23. lol, very cute. nt

[JDPriestly]

26. Actually, Edwards handled himself magnificently.

He took the heat very well. Here is where you can see how well he handled himself: http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/11/15/201012/05

Edwards kept his cool. He was unflustered. He spoke from his heart. In a way Blitzer did Edwards a favor. He let Edwards show how Edwards rises about ten heads above the other candidates. He let Edwards show what a strong negotiator he is under fire. Edwards is the candidate for 2008. Forget the rest. At this point, I am not sure I will even waste my time voting for any other candidate if nominated. If we nominate anyone other than Edwards, we are throwing away the election. We are throwing away the chance of a century.

[Cameron27]

33. That's from your perspective as an Edwards supporter.

I watched the debate twice, once last night, and again this morning and I thought he came across as too hot and itching for a fight, which he had to back away from, and too smug, his condescension towards Kucinich for example, and too sanctimoniously preachy as if he alone is the sole savior of the Democratic party. Sorry, that's what I saw.

[JDPriestly]

35. Where did you watch the whole debate?

I couldn't find the video of the entire debate. Please give me a link. I'm of the library card generation. I do not navigate the internet that well.

[durrrty libby]

11. You know what they say..If you can't stand the heat...

whine...whine...whine

Seriously, with all the desperado bashing that JE has done, "Aw come on now"

is a big deal? The hypocrisy is damn sad and yet :rofl:

[DangerDave921]

15. Agreed

Man, supporters will find the tiniest little thing to harp about. Oh the unfairness!

It's like listening to some pathetic guy in a bar talk about how the umpire or referee always rules against his team.

[tired_old_fireman]

18. So Edwards says negative things about Clinton

and that makes it okay for the moderator to interrupt and insult his answer?

It would be hyposcrisy to complain about Clinton attacking Edwards. No one is doing that. The moderator is supposed to be unbiased. The candidates are not. Don't you see the difference?

[durrrty libby]

20. Yes, I see the little boy who cried Wolf

:rofl:

[JDPriestly]

27. Edwards is not saying negative personal things about Clinton

He is pointing out the weakness in her policy stances, in her candidacy. Think of it, Clinton's own staff member stated to the student at Drake University who was instructed to ask a planted question that the staff member did not know if Hillary was famliar with her stance on energy. Hillary does not know what she stands for -- because her "stands" are not her own. Her staff writes them up and she delivers them. Sound familiar? That's Bush all over. I want a candidate who says what he believes, what comes from his heart, and not what his advisers tell him to say after consulting their polls. I want Edwards. He is the real thing. He is the real Democrat. Edwards can win in 2008. Hillary cannot. She is already tripping over her own lies.

[tired_old_fireman]

42. I agree 100%

[ORDagnabbit]

14. blitzer worked for AIPAC as a propagandist now why would he want hillary to win?

he worked for AIPAC where he wrote for their propaganda sheet The Near East Report.

[Basileus Basileon]

16. So this is the new excuse for Edwards' terrible performance?

Wolf Blitzer made him suck?

[JDPriestly]

28. Edwards performance was brilliant -- the best ever.

Here, watch it. http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/11/15/201012/05 I dare you.

[Basileus Basileon]

31. I watched it in full, unedited form last night. He was mediocre,

on a night where most everyone shined. Biden, Hillary, Obama, Richardson, and Dodd all turned in their best performances of the year (Kucinich might have, too, but they never let poor DK join in any reindeer games, so to speak) Edwards was okay most of the time, but had several terrible moments, and few high points. He didn't do himself any favors.

(The "oh, come on" was said with a chuckle, after Edwards says that he himself isn't perfect. It was an "oh, you're too modest" half-joke.)

[goodgd_yall]

37. Thank you, for the correction

About the Wolf "oh, come on." Sheesh, some DUers really have to do something about the lenses through which they hear and see.

[goodgd_yall]

38. BTW, agree with your assessment

And I'm an Edwards supporter. I think he overdid it with his pouncing on HRC again. And that little jokey-poo about "is that a planted question?" sounded so passive-aggressive. It's hard to get past his personality flaws at times.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

29. Yup thats the meme.

[CyberPieHole]

32. A WAAAABULANCE is on it's way...

Hope Edwards didn't get his widdle feelings hurt.:rofl:

[jgraz]

34. Oh cram it. It's not whining to point out that Blitzer is an unprofessional turd.

[CyberPieHole]

39. "cram it"

:rofl:

[jgraz]

40. Hey, when you have a handle like CyberPieHole, you're gonna get a lot of that

:P

[CyberPieHole]

41. Yeah, cause RAZ is not easy to play on...

:rofl:

[goodgd_yall]

36. I didn't see that at all.

I disagree with most DUers here, I suppose. I thought he did a really good job. He pressured the candidates to be clear on their positions. The only problem was the problem all the debates have had: the disproportianate amount of time given to the top 3 candidates over the others.