What This Really Means

The issue most Americans are expressing with the continuation of Gwen Ifill as moderator for the Vice Presidential debate is that the appearance of impropriety should have been grounds for her removal by the debate committee that selected her as moderator, yet she still remains. At the very least, Ms. Ifill should decline to moderate the debate to maintain her respect as a professional. Personally, I am most angry that a journalist assumed she was above full disclosure of the timing for release of her book when she was selected to moderate the Vice Presidential debate.

What exactly does Gwen Ifill have at stake if Barack Obama is elected as US President? The sale of 100,000 copies of her book will put her on the New York Times Best Seller list and I think that's a conservative estimate if he is President. The list price for the book is $24.95 and her profit will be 15% (the standard profit). That means Ms. Ifill stands to gain a minimum of approximately $375,000. I think that makes it difficult to be "unbiased" toward anyone opposing Barack Obama including Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

Ms. Ifill has stated that she is a professional and all her questions will be fair to both candidates. However, any question too easy for Governor Palin will be viewed as pandering to the idea of partiality while any question too hard for Senator Biden will be viewed as over-compensating for a bias toward his running mate, Barack Obama. This is a loose/loose situation that will further divide America down deep party lines.

Update 10/3/08
Ms. Ifill did not present a disclaimer prior the debate stating she would be impartial to both candidates. I found this upsetting, but throughout the debate she proved to be very professional and did not favor either one. She did a fine job a moderator and I think she was a good choice.