This year’s GOP debates have claimed two victims – Governor Rick Perry, who has been bad to awful in all but one of the debates he’s appeared in; and some members of the press who have moderated the debates.
The latest journalist to have his reputation tarnished is CBS’s Scott Pelley. I will admit I don’t watch the “CBS Evening News,” so I wasn’t very familiar with Pelley. But what I saw of the debate CBS broadcast on Saturday night was not impressive.
It was actually worse than that.
Unlike his able and informed co-moderator, National Journal’s Major Garrett, Pelley came across as schoolmarmish, smug, arrogant, unlikeable, clumsy (he tried to cut off Mitt Romney when Romney still had plenty of time left to answer his question) and at times ignorant. His worst moment was when he made the mistake of trying to correct Newt Gingrich on the “rules of law” as they apply to killing terrorists, the result being Pelley was smacked down and taken to the woodshed by Gingrich. (See Ed Morrissey’s take on this exchange, complete with a video clip, here:). This moment was a signal to us that Pelley doesn’t understand — as, say, Jim Lehrer does — the role of the moderator is to take a back seat in debates, to move the discussion along as seamlessly as possible, to illuminate rather than hector, and not to become a focal point or advocate for a particular point of view.
In addition, and in general, Pelley treated the candidates like they were unruly children. As for the audience, he didn’t instruct it not to applaud; he lectured it.
Scott Pelley, then, came across as unprofessional and biased, tendentious and out of his depth, and he confirmed many of the stereotypes conservatives have of the press.
Other than that, he was splendid.
I watched and have the same opinion of Pelley. He seemed arrogant and elitist, same as most main stream media. They do not like conservatives and have the attitude that they know better. When he lectured the audience on clapping, and it was a lecture, that's when I really stopped listening to him.
Pelley was awful, on any axis you care to imagine. n n n nWhat's worse, his voice was mixed in at a higher volume than the candidates, so that he was able to completely over ride them whenever he wished, which was always (with the exception of Santorum, with whom he was polite).
“This year’s GOP debates have claimed two victims – Governor Rick Perry, …; and some members of the press …”
Has Governor Tim Pawlenty been forgotten so completely?
Newt really put him down. Wonderful!!!
What amazes me about the MSM (of which Pelley is just one of many lackeys) is that they don't seem to care that they have little to NO credibility with the vast majority of their listening public. They really don't care!!…which means that they are in the business of making the news, not reporting it. That is a very dangerous situation for the USA, or any country that relies on a "free and independent press", as the USA has for most of its life. It places a supreme responsibility on US voters to exercise their voting rights anytime they have an opportunity. Nothing less will suffice to save our country as originally founded.
Agree on Scott Pelley, but, really, Mr. Romney, despite all the glowing reviews, always has a childish tantrum when he insists that HE has more time, even when he is correct, he still has a tantrum. nAnd, then there was that "I can't have illegals, For Pete's sake, I'm running for office – Anderson" mommy-moment. n nWhy is Commentary so forgiving of WafflesRomney, who is so much like Obama, what is the point of even voting if that is the choice? No, actually, Romney is worse than Obama because BainRomney has the blood of how many thousands of "downsized" human beings to account for, while BainRomney counts his piles of gold…