UPDATE: Steven Den Beste writes:
Why is it that the debate moderators are all such turkeys?
Why don’t they get someone like Hugh Hewitt?
Because they want turkeys.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Brian Gates writes:
What keeps the candidates from having every exchange go like this:
Democratic Moderator: Please tell us what restrictions on gay rights you want to impose, and whether you would follow up with legalized segregation.
Republican Candidate: In the time it took you to ask that stupid question, the federal government under Barack Obama incurred an additional $200,000 of debt that will have to be paid by Americans. Here’s my plan to cut spending….
What are they afraid of, getting a failing grade from Brian Williams and not being allowed to advance to the next debate? It would be best to have no moderators present, but a very close second would be to make it clear that they are asking frivolous questions – by providing answers to substantive ones.
And Prof. Stephen Clark writes: “Somewhere in NBC, I imagine an executive saying, ‘I swear to God, I thought turkeys could fly.'”
MORE: Reader John Williams writes: “Because a serious moderator asking intelligent questions would make the candidates seem serious and intelligent. Add to that, it would connote that the presidential election is important and who we choose is a serious, if not vital, decision that must be carefully considered. As long as they can make the Republican debates look like a circus and the candidate chosen seem irrelevant, the better chance their candidate has of squeaking out a second term.”