Barbecue Brokaw

Posted on 10/07/2008 at 3:18 pm by Bob Cesca

I’m not too worried about Brokaw tonight. The rules don’t really allow him any latitude for barbecue beyond the initial question selection.

Brokaw selects the questions to ask from written queries submitted prior to the debate, according to the “contract.”

An audience member will not be allowed to switch questions. Under the deal, the moderator may not ask followups or make comments. The person who asks the question will not be allowed a follow-up either, and his or her microphone will be turned off after the question is read. A camera shot will only be shown of the person asking — not reacting.

So Brokaw will basically be allowed to say two things: 1) “Our next question is from [blank],” and, “Senator [blank]?”

Remember four years ago in the town hall debate when President Bush went nuts on Charlie Gibson — shouting gibberish about Alexander Kwasniewski? Maybe McCain will have a schizoid embolism tonight.

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  • JG

    Yes, but he still gets to select the questions. I have a feeling he will seelct a “character’ question–maybe not naming Ayers in name, but the same type of flag pin “look over here” questioning that ABC employed in the primaries.

  • http://livefreeordie08.wordpress.com LiveFreeOrDie08

    How are they going to enforce an audience member “not switching his/her question?”If I get this right, the questions are pre-filtered, ordered, and paced by Brokaw. This sounds like an orchestrated propaganda machine, not a Straight-Talking town hall.They don’t even have to defer to the voter and ask “Did I answer your question?”I smell pork simmering on the grill.

  • Gretchen

    I hope, I hope, I hope he melts down. At least Brokow will be on a leash, he’s really changed since he left the news desk. I really hope no one has “gotten to” the people who’s questions are being asked. I swear I’m going to have an ulcer before this election is over!!!!!

  • cminri

    These rules are ridiculus. No follow-up questions? How is this even considered “a debate”?

  • trustno1

    From Politico:Lynn Sweet reported yesterday that the two campaigns had reached an agreement under which, among other things, moderator Tom Brokaw wouldn’t ask follow-up questions tonight.But Brokaw wasn’t a party to the deal, I’m told, and hasn’t agreed to it, so the campaigns are expecting follow-up questions, a senior campaign official said.

  • Gretchen

    My bad…I meant Brokaw.

  • lovetheblue

    Brokaw is a self-admitted, biased piece of shit.You can bet he’s going to cherry pick the questions that will make McInsane look good and Obama look bad.

  • http://livefreeordie08.wordpress.com LiveFreeOrDie08

    Hey do you guys ever listen to Stephanie Miller’s radio show? I think SNL needs to draft Jim Ward to play Brokaw for the debate skit this week. Let’s get that to happen. His Brokaw is better than Brokaw’s. Anybody got contacts at SNL?http://www.voicechasers.com/database/showactor.php?actorid=1177Anybody got contacts at SNL?

  • http://livefreeordie08.wordpress.com LiveFreeOrDie08

    off-topic, but does anyone know where Jack Cafferty is? He hasn’t made a blog entry since a couple of days after he gave his opinion on Palin.

  • bibimimi

    “Brokaw is a self-admitted, biased piece of shit.”The Greatest Degeneration!

  • JG

    love Steph–Jim Ward is GENIUS.

  • http://livefreeordie08.wordpress.com LiveFreeOrDie08

    Just released McCain debate prep video!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teMlv3ripSM&feature=related

  • http://www.broadwaycarl.blogspot.com Broadway Carl

    So Brokaw gets to pick the questions submitted by the audience but he can’t ask follow ups. Can the audience ask a follow up if their question isn’t answered? Can the candidates ask follow up questions of each other? Mr. Dingeldein may get his “Colonel Jessup” moment yet.

  • NotAPollStat

    ALL of McCain’s town halls were set ups to make him look good. There was no way Obama was going to agree to “debate” him in McCain’s “Republican-only” town halls.The way the paid McCain bloggers slam the internet, and hell — they even pay people to write fake letters to editors — there is no way I’m going to believe this is an “Independent” audience asking the questions. NO WAY. NO HOW.

  • ceu

    I predict that McCain is going to take credit for the Bailout Bill and will tell us all that, with patience and tax cuts, everything will be just fine. And no one will be able to rebute him…

  • ceu

    And within minutes of that prediction, Nicole Wallace showed up on David Gregory’s show spouting how Obama “phoned it in” while McCain showed true leadership during the recent crisis (it’s over??).

  • gallery

    What you mean is he can’t do any damage TONIGHT.Wait till he mops up the mess on sunday though.