Despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calling on Joe Biden to refuse debating President Donald Trump, four moderators have been named for the vice-presidential and three presidential debates.
At times the journalists moderating such events have been far from moderate. In October 2012, left-of-center CNN's Candy Crowley controlled the second debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
When Romney said Obama had waited two weeks after a mob murdered our ambassador to Libyan before calling this terrorism, Crowley stepped in to defend Obama and declare Romney wrong.
Crowley hours later admitted that Romney "was right in the main," but by then the debate was over, the vast TV audience gone, the damage done, and the election tilted to Obama.
Both Republican and Democrat officials said that Crowley violated terms of the pre-debate agreement signed by both parties – by her one-sided interference, her failure to give Romney the promised last word in one clash and giving Obama three minutes more speaking time than Romney.
Crowley boasted before the debate that she would be more aggressive than previous moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS. She said, "[T]here is … time for me to say 'Hey, wait a second, what about x, y, z?'" She "moderated" the debate by inaccurate "fact checking" that influenced who won.
Crowley's megalomaniacal behavior was shameful. But her partisanship helped reelect Obama-Biden. Will one or more of this year's debate moderators be the next Candy Crowley?
Sept. 29's Cleveland debate moderator is Chris Wallace, 72, the most leftward anchor on center-right Fox News. Son of famed broadcaster Mike Wallace, he is a veteran of NBC and ABC News who once asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin, "Why do so many people who oppose you end up dead?"
Wallace occasionally acts like a "Never Trumper," but Fox viewer outrage pulls this Democrat back into centrism.
October 15's Miami debate moderator is C-SPAN's Steve Scully, 60. the 14th of 16 children. Now even-handed, Scully was an intern for Sens. Ted Kennedy and Joe Biden.
Oct. 22's Nashville debate moderator is NBC weekend "Today" show co-anchor and longtime White House correspondent Kristen Welker, 44. Most on NBC and Marxist-Socialist NBC (as MSNBC is known) are left-of-center.
Welker described Biden's leftist running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, as having a "moderate political reputation," and President Trump snidely as "trying to show he is hard at work."
But in August Welker did a hard-hitting interview with Speaker Pelosi that the conservative Media Research Center's NewsBusters described: "WOW … It's truly amazing to see Pelosi fold under real, tough questions, something she's not accustomed to … from the leftist media. … We have to give credit [to] a good interview by Welker."
The Oct. 7 Salt Lake City vice-presidential debate moderator is Susan Page, 69, of center-left USA Today. Page is liberal but professional. She reportedly has a book contract to write a biography tentatively entitled "Modern Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Arc of Power," which doubtless would sell better if Pelosi and her party increase their power.
None of these moderators seems likely to be the next Candy Crowley. But we should not be surprised if Biden, 77, bails out of two or more debates, probably by claiming illness. If he does, this proves his unfitness to be president.
Three important questions "moderate" moderators should ask:
1) Mr. Biden, the Obama-Biden administration invited Black Lives Matter into the White House, despite this Marxist-founded violent group chanting "What do we want? Dead cops." Do you regret honoring this leftist terrorist organization?
2) Mr. Biden, you now vaguely denounce "needless" violence, but have not named two leftist groups causing it. Is your silence self-serving, because the BlackLivesMatter.com website "Donate" button goes directly to Democrat site ActBlue, which has given more than $120 million to your campaign, and the Marxist antifa.com website switches automatically to a Biden donation website?
3) Mr. Biden, you planned to meet with Jacob Blake's parents, whose son was shot by Kenosha police when he violently resisted arrest on a felony rape warrant. Did you notice that Blake's alleged rape is very similar to what a former staffer accuses you of committing on her?
President Trump had recommended two dozen centrist moderators, including: Fox's Maria Bartiromo, Bret Baier, Harris Faulkner and Charles Payne; talk-radio stars Hugh Hewitt and Larry Elder; The Hill's Saager Enjeti; CNBC's Joe Kernen and Rick Santelli; CBS's Major Garrett; and more. All were rejected by the government swamp's "bipartisan" Commission on Presidential Debates. Is this fair, honest, and even-handed to President Trump?
Lowell Ponte is a former Reader's Digest Roving Editor. His articles have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and other major publications. His latest paper co-authored with Craig R. Smith, "The Secret War," shows how to rethink several areas of investment to protect and grow your savings against little-known economic threats. For a free, postpaid copy, call toll-free 800-630-1492.
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