Gwen Ifill’s questions were not glaringly biased, but it was ridiculous that she didn’t feel the need to acknowledge her book on “The Age of Obama” at the beginning of the debate. It was the third time in this process that she has behaved dishonorably. The first was not disclosing the book to the Commission on Presidential Debates. The second was dismissing the criticism out of hand, and not acknowledging that debate moderators ought to not have a financial incentive to see one side win. And thirdly by refusing to acknowledge these facts during the debate, information that the viewers at home are entitled to take into consideration.
All of this is entirely separate from how pro-Obama the book is, and the questions she asked.
We had questions on the bailout bill, the subprime lending meltdown, taxes, promises the candidates will not be able to keep because of the cost of the bailout, the bankruptcy bill, climate change, capping carbon emissions, same sex benefits and gay marriage, an exit strategy for Iraq, whether a nuclear Iran or an unstable Pakistan is a greater threat (although according to the transcript, Ifill said ‘an unstable Afghanistan’ at one point), Secretaries of States’ comments on engaging our enemies, what has the administration done right or wrong on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, what should be the trigger for using nuclear weapons, putting troops on the ground in Darfur (maybe her best question), how the potential vice presidents would differ from their running mates, past comments expressing disinterest in being vice president, and when have you been forced to change a long-held view in order to accommodate changed circumstances.
It’s interesting that energy, Palin’s signature issue, never came up in the form of a question; she mentioned it in relation to questions about climate change and carbon emissions. As Ace noted, it’s interesting that abortion never came up, nor guns. Nothing on earmarks, government waste, or much on the budget.