All reports indicate that when the ABC News Democratic Party Debate airs in the Pacific Time zone at 8 PM that you are better off doing pretty much anything other than watching it. There are reviews are already in and there seems to be a clear consensus on Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos and ABC News and the parent company Disney.
“Looking around other sites, I guess I’m not the only one that thought this debate was unmitigated travesty,” Josh Marshall noted. “Maybe the embargo on debate rebroadcast was a pro-human rights stand.”
“The debate is over, and I feel like I need a shower. […] The crowd here is starting to boo Gibson. Like, a lot. Hilarious and well-deserved.”
–Chris Bowers
“No Charlie. It hasn’t been a “fascinating debate.” It’s been genuinely awful.”
–Josh Marshall
“What matters to this network is money, and that is where we need to go. Starting tomorrow, my spare time, meager as it is, will be dedicated to revealing the advertisers of this network, for the purpose of organized boycotts.”
–Dartagnan (top Recommended Diary on Dailykos)
“Light’Em Up
Complain about this atrocity.
Main ABC switchboard: 212-456-7777
…complain here.”
–Atrios
“My friend Dan McQuade calls this the lowest moment in American history — I think he’s giving it too much credit, frankly.”
–Will Bunch
“George and Charlie were just rumor-mongering right wingers. Charlie thought it was “fascinating.” Wrong. It was just very pathetic and disturbing. If you ever question the sad state of affairs in the American political dialogue, tonight’s debate was Exhibit A.”
–Joe Sudbay
“This debate was just horrible. Too much time wasted on useless nonsense. From a media perspective, I am not sure why Stephanopoulos was in the mix at all. He didn’t add much, and if anything, his history with the Clintons had the potential to take something away. I thought Gibson was especially rough on Obama, and I think ABC did not do themselves any good with this debate. If I weren’t liveblogging, I would have switched to AI.”
–Jacki Schechner
“This is the most disgraceful and dispiriting debate of all time.”
–BooMan
“In perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate this year, ABC News hosts Charles Gibson and George Stephanopolous focused mainly on trivial issues as Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off in Philadelphia.”
–Editor and Publisher
“Reflecting what seemed to be the main consensus of the night – that ABC botched this debate, big time – Charlie Gibson tells the crowd there will be one more, superfluous commercial break of the night and is subsequently jeered. “OH…” he declares, hands raised in defense. “The crowd is turning on me, the crowd is turning on me.””
–Huffington Post
I feel sorry for both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.