I kind of agree, and I kind of don’t.
At some point amid the hailstorm of criticism that greeted ABC’s handling of yesterday’s Dem debate, moderator George Stephanopoulos received an email — one of the many, many missives about the debate he’s received — from an Obama adviser.
"Feel like a candidate today?" the adviser asked.
In an interview with me moments ago, Stephanopoulos strongly defended his handling of the debate. He dismissed criticism that it had focused too heavily on "gotcha" questions, arguing that they had gone to the heart of the "electability" that, he said, is forefront in the minds of voters evaluating the two Dems.
"Overall, the questions were tough, fair, relevant, and appropriate," Stephanopoulos argued. And he rejected the claim by many Obama supporters that the debate had been stacked against him, saying Hillary had faced sharp questioning, too.
Today on the campaign trail Obama criticized ABC’s handling of the debate, characterizing it as "the roll out of the Republican campaign against me in November."
Asked to respond, Stephanopoulos said that getting criticized "comes with the territory."
"Our job is to ask the questions," he said. "His job is to go out and win votes."
I think that’s a fair defense myself. That’s not the reason people are ticked, They’re ticked because Hannity planted a question to Stephanopoulos, via his radio show. Which some feel was totally wrong.
Although, I think bringing up Obama’s connection to some 1960’s anti-war guy was a bit lame. If you ask me.
Others: The Moderate Voice, Too Sense, The Carpetbagger Report, TPMCafe, No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo, American Street, The New Republic, The Reaction, Show Tracker, Comments from Left Field, Booman Tribune, Jules Crittenden and TalkLeft