This morning on CNN’s Reliable Sources, Howard Kurtz and his media panel, CBS Public Eye’s Matthew Felling and Baltimore Sun television critic David Zurawik picked up where the pundits and even some of the candidates left off, in their criticism of the Iowa debates moderator Carolyn Washburn.
Kurtz: I am all for substance and I am not in favor of food fights. But when you ask very general questions like what would you do in your first year of president, you’re basically giving these candidates an invitation to just press the button and recite the stump speech.
Felling: Yes, just pull the string and let them talk. I would like to see her compare and contrast the candidates because that was the value in a moderator, and she showed the complete inability to think on her feet, and it was just push button, push button, push button.
AdvertisementZurawik: And Howie, I don’t want to be accused of style over-substance either, but she was so bad on that front that it was a distraction. Even if she had gotten a substance, you couldn’t concentrate because she was so bad.
Kurtz: On the other hand, I’m sure she’s a very fine newspaper editor, and “The Des Moines Register” is a good paper.
Way to be diplomatic, Howie. But the best shot may have come from Zurawik who says some have compared Washburn to Nurse Ratched.