MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann is gearing up for tonight’s AFL-CIO Democratic Presidential Forum in Chicago. It’ll be a unique format: held outdoors – on the 10-yard line at Soldier Field – in what’s expected to be hot and humid weather (with a chance of thunderstorms!). An audience of about 15,000 will be on hand.
In a conversation with TV Guide, Olbermann says it’s his first time as a debate moderator, and that “I think it’s also the price – and I mean this in a positive light – of putting myself in the political arena with my commentaries. The authenticity of those commentaries is, in some respects, achieved by doing things like this, and involving myself in the optical process in a way that’s hands-on.”
There’s more on Olbermann in the Chicago Sun-Times, which asks about Countdown being the “only lefty show on broadcast or cable news”. “I’m surprised that nobody has tried to come in and snake my turf”, Olbermann says, because Countdown makes “a good deal of money.”