Bob Schieffer, the moderator of tonight's presidential debate recently said:
I don't know who's going to win this debate, but I think somebody is going to win. Somebody is going to score a decisive win. That's just my sense.
So, what is this "sense" based on? Schieffer's long relationship with John McCain? After all, McCain has appeared on Face the Nation more than 65 times, and over the years has been described by Schieffer as someone who "just knows how to do it," a "person of stature," a "person of integrity," and a "patriot."
And Schieffer seems to have gone out of his way to carry water for McCain this election season, repeating the fantasy that McCain suspended his campaign, repeating the lies about Sarah Palin being against the "bridge to nowhere" and earmarks, and repeating McCain talking points about Barack Obama and troop withdrawals from Iraq, to name just a few.
In 2000, Bob Shieffer traveled with McCain on McCain's campaign bus and later gushed about the experience, saying:
But, I mean, I have to say, it is a lot of fun to be on that bus because there's a lot of excitement being generated. And you can feel it, you can sense it when you get off the bus. And I think reporters do have to be very careful. It can become very beguiling, as it were.
Judging by Schieffer's reporting during this campaign season, it seems he hasn't been at all careful to avoid being beguiled. And now, going in to tonight's debate, Schieffer's "sense" of events is in play once more? How exactly will that affect his performance? Does he have one more bucket of water to carry for the man he thinks appeals to "our better angels"?
