Newt Gingrich speaking at a rally in Pensacola FL. today continued his crusade against the media. Gingrich told the crowd "As your nominee, I will not accept debates in the fall in which the reporters are the moderators, because you don't need to have a second Obama person in the debate."
Politco reports that Janet Brown, a spokesperson with the Commission on Presidential Debates, says that reporters are best suited for the job of moderator.
"The Commission's practice since we came into being in 1987 has been to choose moderators based on three criteria," Brown explained. "Since these are live, hard news television events, you want moderators who have experience with live, hard news television events and are familiar with the demands of that environment. Number two, who are quite familiar with the positions of the candidates and the campaigns. And number three, who have the skills to facilitate a conversation between leading candidates for the presidency of the United States, which is a high pressure task."
"It is, generally speaking, hard to find people that do all those things who are not journalists, and particularly TV journalists," she added.
Brown had no comment when asked what would happen if Gingrich were the nominee and followed through on his promise
"It wouldn't be appropriate for the commission to comment on something that's premature and hypothetical," she said.
Gingrich who is use to having things his way as a former Fox News employee where the format allows republicans to say anything that they want with rarely a query to what was said, now seems like a fish out of water when questions are asked by reporters from real news organizations.
Gingrich doesn’t like questions about his lobbying for Freddie Mac where he reported to the chief lobbyist, or question of the $1.6 million he received for what Gingrich describes as “history lessons”.
He also doesn’t like the media asking him about the $37 million his companies were paid from the healthcare industry, or the health care mandates that he called for as Speaker of the House, or about his three wives and two mistresses (Fox News Gingrich would be a stronger President because of his adultery), or that he supported Cap and Trade but now says he never did.
All of the above and many more will be asked in the debates if he were to be the GOP nominee. Questions about character of a President are important to Americans who want a President with an ethical and moral character.
Several pundits have said that Gingrich is a “strong debater”, and he may be, but when he is asked about facts from his past and his first inclination is to attack the person who is asking the question, it's not a display of strength; it is trying to run away from the question and the facts in the question.
If debates were a game of dodge ball, Newt Gingrich would truly be a “strong debater”.