UPDATE: Cover It Live is overwhelmed. If you can't get in the live chat because it is at capacity. Go Ahead and head over to our chatroom on Blog Talk Radio. I have opened it even though we are not on the air.
As we did last week with the debate between John McCain and Barack Obama, we will be live blogging the Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. If you were bored with last week's debate, you weren't hanging with us in our live blog! Come back at the start of the debate and kick it with us and then follow us over to our podcast at blogtalkradio.com/blackwomen. We'll be chatting and debating the debate...all in good fun! To call in to the podcast call 646-478-4750.
Join us tonight right here during the vice presidential debate for our live blogging and then follow us over to the Black Womens' Roundtable over on Blogtalkradio.com/blackwomen. We always have an entertaining post-event podcast. To participate in the show, you can call 646-478-4750. We are simply the best post-debate analysis out there :) or so I'm told.
Either way, you can wait anxiously to guess which guest will be muted first. Last week we were over at talkshoe, this week we're back in our normal slot on BTR. Oh yeah, I am running the boards tonight so I will be in control of the mute button!! Who will be sent to the podcast corna'??
Gwen Ifill Moderator Drama
Okay and now for the latest in the Gwen Ifill melodrama. If you don't know, Gwen Ifill is moderating tomorrow night's vice presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin. She also has a book coming out which covers Barak Obama among others. The book is available for sale on Amazon.
A few weeks ago, there was a story (a rather silly story, actually) about whether African-American journalists could cover Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and maintain their impartiality. Now there’s a growing stink (from some conservatives) about whether PBS journalist Gwen Ifill, who’s black, can moderate Thursday’s vice presidential debate between Sen. Joe Biden and Gov. Sarah Palin because Ifill has a book coming out on Obama.
The book, which will be available on Inauguration Day, is titled, "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama." The publisher says “veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama's stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.” Chicago Tribune
And from Sandra Rose:
Gwen Ifill is confident that Mr. Obama has the election in the bag. But should the moderator of such an important debate show such blatant bias towards one party? Couldn’t she wait until after the debate to announce this book of hers?Apparently, Ifill doesn’t care if we know she’s biased. She has faced criticism before for not treating candidates of both major parties the same.Sandra Rose
Well Gwen has responded to the furor
"I've got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I'm not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation," Ifill said. "The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate tomorrow night and make their own decisions about whether or not I've done my job."Associated Press
My prediction, no matter what she does tomorrow, the fact that the story is now about this book instead of the fact that she is the only woman and only person of color who has been selected to moderate a debate has already done damage. I mean with titles like this ,Is VP Debate Moderator Gwen Ifill In The Tank For Obama?, people will be focussed on whether or not she is biased vs. whether or not she is doing her job. Heads, Gwen Loses. Tails, Gwen loses. But in any case, the moderator of the debate is unlikely to have any affect on the outcome of the election and the good news, now everybody knows Gwen has a book coming out. Controversy is good for book sales.
Well folks, the number one topic of conversation on this blog for the past week, as evidenced by the 300+ comments that have been left, will be giving her acceptance speech tonight at 9:00CST. They mailed out the entire thing, but it is embargoed until delivery. Here are some excerpts:
On her experience as a public servant:
"I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town. I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids’ public education better. When I ran for city council, I didn’t need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too. Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown. And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves. I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities."
On why she is going to Washington, D.C.:
"I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone. But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion - I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country."
On energy policies that the McCain-Palin administration will implement:
"Our opponents say, again and again, that drilling will not solve all of America’s energy problems - as if we all didn’t know that already. But the fact that drilling won’t solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. Starting in January, in a McCain-Palin administration, we’re going to lay more pipelines...build more nuclear plants...create jobs with clean coal...and move forward on solar, wind, geothermal, and other alternative sources. We need American energy resources, brought to you by American ingenuity, and produced by American workers."
On John McCain:
"Here’s how I look at the choice Americans face in this election. In politics, there are some candidates who use change to promote their careers. And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."
Do try to contain yourselves and not comment until you actually hear the speech. After being at the DNC last week, they often depart significantly from the prepared remarks. Please limit your comments to a critique of the speech as written or delivered and reserve all additional rumors regarding Palin or any of her family members being abducted by space aliens for our earlier posts.
xoxo,
What About Our Daughters Customer Service DepartmentUPDATE: The Obama Campaign has responded to Palin's speech per Politico:
The speech that Gov. Palin gave was well delivered, but it was written by George Bush’s speechwriter and sounds exactly like the same divisive, partisan attacks we’ve heard from George Bush for the last eight years. If Gov. Palin and John McCain want to define ‘change’ as voting with George Bush 90 percent of the time, that’s their choice, but we don’t think the American people are ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.
I called it yesterday when several WAOD commentors brought the ridiculous rumor that Sarah Palin's fifth child, Trig, was actually her grandson and son of her teenage daughter. Well, its kinda hard to be pregnant TWICE at the same time! When Trig was born, Palin's daughter was 1 month pregnant. How do we know this? Because Palin revealed today that her daughter is pregnant. Obama, as I predicted, was asked about the conspiracy theories about Palin being spread by those purporting to be his supporters and this is his response:
"I have said before and I will repeat again: People's families are off limits," Obama said. "And people's children are especially off-limits. This shouldn't be part of our politics. It has no relevance to Gov. Palin's performance as a governor or her potential performance as a vice president. So I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and teenage children, that shouldn’t be a topic of our politics."
On charges that his campaign has stoked the story via liberal blogs:
"I am offended by that statement. There is no evidence at all that any of this involved us," he said. "Our people were not involved in any way in this, and they will not be. And if I thought there was somebody in my campaign who was involved in something like that, they would be fired."
John McCain was/is on track to lose this election why on earth would you want to trigger a New Hampshire effect? Doesn't Obama have enough to battle without battling a sympathy vote as well? As I stated previously, McCain watched the Democratic primary. He knew EXACTLY what he was doing when he selected Palin. It's a trap that the Democrats are walking right into. Ignore her an target voters. McCain would love it if this election became a referendum on politician's families and not about policy.
Leave this Palin's children out of this. It's a trap! This is not the last of this story. Thanks a bunch acolytes!
Oh yeah, and Palin's husband had a DWI arrest 24 years ago. Y'all will go overboard with that one as well because having a DWI arrest keeps folks out of the White House.
Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 7:40PM