ABC Debates Biased? The Reviews Are In

.. From WashPo TV critic Tom Shales:

"It was another step downward for network news -- in particular ABC News, which
hosted the debate from Philadelphia and whose usually dependable anchors,
Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, turned in shoddy, despicable
performances. For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show,
Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that
already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to
claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news
to begin with. The fact is, cable networks CNN and MSNBC both did better jobs
with earlier candidate debates. Also, neither of those cable networks, if memory
serves, rushed to a commercial break just five minutes into the proceedings,
after giving each candidate a tiny, token moment to make an opening statement.
Cable news is indeed taking over from network news, and merely by being
competent."

... even our friends across the pond, at the U.K.'s Guardian, were unimpressed with what they said was possibly "the
dumbest debate in America":

"Last night's debate -- or, more specifically, the performance of its
moderators, Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos -- was by turns superficial
and disingenuous. The trouble started early. Gibson began with an utterly
fatuous inquiry about whether each candidate would pledge to ask the other to be
their vice-presidential nominee if they won, and agree to accept the veep slot
if they lost ... Stephanopoulos and Gibson deserve every bit of opprobrium being
thrown their way. They delivered a noxious blend of smear, innuendo and
diversion. But it looks like the same old political junk food no longer
satisfies an electorate hungry for real change."

... Ed Morrissey says, What were you hoping for? A game of patty-cake?

"I'm not sure what anyone expected. All of the questions asked were legitimate
questions, and the time spent on them had more to do with follow-ups by the
candidates than with the moderators. None of them had been asked in a debate before last night, and
indeed most of these issues had only been reported since the last debate. ABC
didn't break a scoop last night; all of the issues they raised in that first 50
minutes have appeared in both major media outlets and in each others'
advertising."