Six Reasons Why Candy Crowley is the Worst Debate Moderator Yet

| October 17, 2012

CNN's Candy Crowley Moderates Hofstra Debate

The second debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney provided us another media debacle with CNN’s Candy Crowley taking center stage.  Through all of the Republican primary debates and the first two debates during the general election we’ve seen some bad debate moderation.  Crowley, in my opinion, take the award of the worst debate moderator thus far.  Here are six reasons why:

  1. Crowley declared that she wouldn’t be a fly on the wall and that she would not abide by the contract agreed upon by both campaigns. We wished that she was a fly on the wall so we would have been able to hear more questions from the audience which is what makes town hall formats interesting.  Instead we heard limited questions from the audience members and more follow-up questions from Crowley.
  3. What is worse still when counting interruptions by Crowley.  She interrupted Governor Romney 28 times and President Obama just 9.
  4. Not only did she interrupt Governor Romney she often threw a “let me give the President a chance here” softball.  In contrast she would provide more direct and pointed follow-up to Romney.
  5. Then she selected this question from an “undecided” voter that was directed to both candidates, “I do attribute much of America’s economic and international problems to the failings and missteps of the Bush administration. Since both of you are Republicans, I fear the return to the policies of those years should you win this election. What is the biggest difference between you and George W. Bush, and how do you differentiate yourself from George W. Bush?”
  6. Governor Romney had to debate two people on the issue of Benghazi.  Crowley interjected herself into the debate and provided a fact check which was false and she later admitted it.  The man who asked the Libya question said that President Obama never even answered the question.

The last reason alone is enough to cinch it for Crowley.  You can’t go from debate moderator to debate participant and claim to be not biased.

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Category: 2012 Elections

About the Author ()

Shane Vander Hart is the founder and editor-in-chief of Caffeinated Thoughts.  He is also the President of 4:15 Communications, LLC, a social media & communications consulting/management firm.  He is a communications director for American Principles Project’s Preserve Innocence Initiative.  Prior to this Shane spent 20 years in youth ministry serving in church, parachurch, and school settings.  He has also served as an interim pastor and is a sought after speaker and pulpit fill-in.  Shane has been married to his wife Cheryl since 1993 and they have three kids.  Shane and his family reside near Des Moines, IA.  You can connect with Shane on Facebook or follow him on Twitter and Google +.
  • SJ

    How can you be so cruel??? I mean, did you not hear the latest? Apparently when Candy was reading the job description, she didn’t have her reading glasses on, so she thought the official title said “cheerleader” instead of “moderator.”

    Hey, it’s an honest mistake that any fangurl could make. What’s more, girlfriend even forgot to go get her cheerleader’s outfit from the cleaners, so she had to settle on that drab black outfit instead.

    Then again, the more I think about it, perhaps we should all be thankful that we didn’t have to see Candy in a tutu. ;)

  • mobyditch

    Lets face it, Romney lost the debate in a big way and now all the rightwing can do is whine about it. Never mind that Romney doesn’t support equal pay for equal work when it comes to women. No mention of the degrading “binder” remark here either. And please “READ THE TRANSCRIPT” about the President remarks on Benghazi which is not going to become a campaign issue no matter how much you ramble on about it. Romney had is ass handed to him with both hands and looked like he was really out of touch with most Americans.

    • http://shanevanderhart.com/ Shane Vander Hart

      What world do you live in that the “binders full of women” remark is degrading? He was discussing all of the capable women he had as part of his administration. Also what proof can you offer that he doesn’t support equal pay for women?

      Regarding Benghazi. My comments were directed at Candy Crowley and how she handled the question in which she came back and said she was wrong. Let the people decide between the two answers. I do think people care about how the President handled Libya, if not about his exact remarks.

      Regarding Romney losing the debate. Gee if he keeps going up in the polls after every debate, I hope he keeps losing then.

  • tony4516

    I love the binder comment. My liberal female co-workers have all been laughing about this, how silly!
    Everyone knew he was talking about resumes. I’ve come to think that these type Obama supporters will always support the President/ and or the Democrat so there is no changing their minds or even wasting time arguing with them!

  • Kristina

    Wow, I said this while watching the debate… I had to yell at the tv several times when she KEPT interrupting Gov. Romney! God it makes me so mad that people are stating that Crowley did a good job… Crowley just got off the hook.. it makes me really ashamed that she’s the first woman moderator. You’ve set the bar really low, oh wait, no you didn’t set a bar… you basically barred women in the future from being a moderator because they will be seen as cheerleaders instead of moderators. Moderators are suppose to be neutral for the benefit of the American people, they are also suppose to make sure the question asked is ACTUALLY answered. But I guess this article states it well when it mentions that all of this is for ratings. I mean Crowley didn’t go in there as a moderator, she went in there to set up Pres. Obama to win again… the next question becomes who picked her as a moderator? And why did they have the authority to do so, when she was so blatantly unsuited for the role?

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