A debate? Definitely not, says TV pioneer

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By David Postman
Seattle Times chief political reporter

RENTON — Bill Shadel was at the birth of the televised presidential debate. Tonight, the last living moderator of the 1960 face-offs between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon will prop up his rest-home bed to watch what he helped beget as President Bush and Sen. John Kerry appear from Coral Gables, Fla.
He doesn't expect much.

"There is so seldom anything that comes out of these anymore, except for the critics," he said.

Shadel turned 96 in July. He's seen a lot of presidential debates since the night in October 1960 when he was in Los Angeles to moderate the third meeting of Vice President Nixon, a Republican, and his Democratic opponent, Sen. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

He says presidential debates today are too closely regulated to allow for real news to seep out. He knows he won't see true face-to-face debating with the candidates grilling each other or tough follow-up questions.

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