I actually liked Schieffer's performance...

[Guaranteed]

Yes, he hit Kerry with some really hard questions. But he did one thing, the importance of which I don't think can be overestimated....

As the debate went on, he tried to bring the candidates together. He tried to find common ground, to remind us of the values that we all share.

He tried to bring America together.

[Digit]

1. I didn't....I detected his bias right away!

He was the MOST biased of the moderators so far...at least that is my opinion.

[tedoll78]

5. I didn't either.

He kept giving Bush the last word on each topic. I think I'm going to go back and keep track of it.

[noonriser]

27. my opinion as well

He didn't give Kerry equal time in rebuttals. I lost count after 3-1 in time for the Shrub...

[Guaranteed]

2. Kick nt

[NYCGirl]

3. I agree with you. I think he was fine, and the hard questions to Kerry

helped him hit some runs out of the park. By showing he could take the heat, he came out of it looking better.

[LTR]

4. He did hit Bush with a few tough ones as well

Who ever saw the flu vaccine question coming?

Perhaps I didn't notice Kerry getting tough questions because he answered them so well. But I though Bob overall did a decent job.

[WI_DEM]

6. Schieffer did a good job

[secular_warrior]

7. We don't share any values

I'm so tired of this middle ground talk. Some on our side never learn. This is a war for the future of America. And in a war, walking in the middle ground only gets you shot.

[Guaranteed]

12. LOL I'm not a middle-grounder either

but I could swear that Schieffer found some.

[secular_warrior]

21. Ok. Sorry about that.

It's just that the "come together" people really anger me, with the grave reality we face of a Red America that will stop at nothing to destroy us.

Yes, Schieffer tried to find some middle ground, but I think his questions were mostly "softball", much softer than Lehrer's, Iffel's or Gibson's. I was hoping to hear some tougher questions, especially for Bush (he asked him about the flu vaccine.. c'mon Bob..).

[Guaranteed]

23. Seriously...if you watch the debate again, you

can feel the tone change with about 50 minutes left.

[Shopaholic]

8. I thought he was just fine-he asked a lot tougher questions

than I thought he would.

[Bleacher Creature]

9. Got to disagree

George Bush is utterly and completely defenseless on the issue of the environment. Of all of his failures, that has to be one of, if not THE ultimate failure of this Administration.

Schieffer gave him a pass.

[Chimpanzee]

30. Two abortion questions

and NO ENVIRONMENT question!!

[sonicx]

10. NO WAY too many softballs, not enough on

environment, education, death penalty

[JusticeForAll]

24. Death Penalty

I was about to post my impression that the moderator seemed unbiased, but now that you mention this topic... Kerry's prior campaign debates for Senator addressed capital punishment and resulted in home runs for him.

You are onto something, I think.

[Guaranteed]

29. Yeeeeahhh but that was

in Massachusetts, though...

Although I do think he should have given the exact same answer if the issue had come up.

[bigtree]

11. I grew up with him

Till recently I never saw any particular bias. Could be that FTN brings out the worst in him but I do have a soft spot for him. I always look for him to be fair and I think he was t'night

[Zen Democrat]

13. He asked about the wives and daughters and not the environment and energy

[Guaranteed]

14. Which questions should he have taken out, then?

He only had so much time.

I agree with you, though, by the way, especially on the energy.

[DrFunkenstein]

15. I Would Have Done Some Things Differently, But Not Too Bad

He even adjusted his questions to the responses the candidates gave, and he brought up the divisiveness without laying it at Bush's feet (although that's our inclination, that's not his place).

[DemFromMem]

16. He was fine

I don't think he was favoring one or the other too much. A couple of dumb questions - the one on the flu, the one on GWB's believe in G-d and the one on the wives - but overall fine. Bush was better behaved as far as not trying to step out of bounds so Shieffer had an easier job.

[Gwerlain]

32. I actually liked the one on the wives...

Bob, however misguided he may be, was looking for a sense of closure for us all. Kerry knew what he was doing, and what his script was, and hit that one out of the park too. Shrub did fine on it, as he was pretty much sure to- but that's OK too.

I thought the vaccine question was a real nasty one for teh Shrubbery- landmines all over the place. He stepped on one, too- Kerry should have smiled and asked whether that was the same Canada that he outlawed importing drugs from- and whether that was a flip-flop. ;)

But that's OK- my main beef with the whole process is:
Why do we keep talking about tort reform when the real fix is to regulate the insurance companies who are overcharging the doctors?

[DemFromMem]

34. And what about the undersupply of doctors?

The media is not covering the fact that the US has failed to open a medical school in this country in more than 20 years. There will be a shortage of 150,000 doctors by 2020. Physicians don't need to worry about malpractice premiums because there compensation will go through the roof.

If the US does not start to produce more doctors, seriously rationing health care is going to be an absolute necessity.

[Demi_Babe]

17. I liked him best of all

to me he was by far the best moderator. He brought some tough questions and Kerry did a wonderful job. The mod. helped Kerry show his "human" side that many folks who don't know him like you and I do don't get to see all the time. I really feel that Kerry hit home with many many viewers tonight.

[Guaranteed]

18. It was easily Kerry's best performance...

I don't see how people can complain, really, although maybe he didn't hit the environment and alternative energy.

[DrFunkenstein]

19. Exactly - This is Not To Be Underestimated

Swing voters are morons. Logical arguments only go so far. The human aspect is dumber, but it is a political reality.

As for the tough questions, you are dead on. Kerry performs best when confronted with a challenge, otherwise he gets sloppy. Schieffer kept him on his toes.

[eridani]

20. WITHOUT the environment or energy issues!

If any two topics can have people agreeing on common solutions, it these two. And nary a whisper of them.

[Demoiselle]

25. I wish he'd had environment and energy questions in place of the last 2...

...on faith and the candidates' "women." Other than those two questions, which had me on the floor howling, I thought Schieffer was balanced and fine. And...on the bright side, the "woman" question gave Kerry a chance to do the joke about marrying up...a very funny, endearing self deprecating line that had to win him more "likeability" points.

[DoveTurnedHawk]

22. Schieffer Was Fair

I eat my previous words.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1052906

DTH

[Leilani]

26. I liked Schieffer very much

& I thought he was fair, & that s all you can ask.

I thought Jim Lehrer also did a fine job & I thought he & Schieffer were tied.

Gibson, I would rank 3rd, because he lost control.

And Ifil, was last.

[otohara]

28. The FAITH Question To Bush - Made Me Sick

this was Schieffer's opportunity to let Bush ramble on about his so called devotion to faith, prayer, etc.... He doesn't pray - he's only a Christian when it's convenient.

Schieffer being a pal to GWB threw that in for warm/fuzzy.

[immoderate]

31. I read Schieffer's book from a few years back

I forget the title. He was certainly not a conservative. IIRC, he was very critical of the Reagan administration.

On edit: It was called The Acting President.

If the candidate is good, how can the moderator hurt you? I mean without being obvious. (See PlaidAdder's article for example.)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/plaidder/04/32.html

--IMM

[leftofthedial]

33. I listened to replay on the radio driving home

had to work during the live debate.

To me, there was clear bias. He asked tougher questions of Kerry. Plus, in questions to Bush, he chose language that resonated with the little bushturd's campaign rhetoric.

[wabeewoman]

35. He was great!

Look at the gifts his questions gave Kerry. A lot has been said about the wives question but it was great for 'humanizing' Kerry (not that we needed it but others did), his abortion follow up was to try to get bush to admit he'd outlaw all abortions(a hot topic with young women including some I know who would otherwise lean toward bush) and the common ground theme really pointed out how bush was a divider and allowed Kerry to show he WOULD be a uniter and it also put the blame about the dismal state of affairs squarely on the repugs and made it clear they were not allowing half of the people represented by democrats to have a say in the process. I thought it was very well done and Kerry far exceeded my expectations AGAIN.

[NewYorkerfromMass]

36. Only because Kerry made the best of what was dealt

The questions were stacked in Bush's favor- Kerry reached deep however and put in a command performance.