I know a lot of folks are uneasy about the last two debates, particularly the choice of moderators. Fair enough. I'll let others dissect the pros/cons of Tom Brokaw. But as for Bob Schieffer, I think we can rest easy.
He's sharp, he's fearless, he has a sense of humor, and he's even-handed. I recommend checking out this interview but here are a few highlights:
Q: Without naming your colleagues, there was some criticism about the way some of the moderators handled the primary debates and the triviality of some of the topics covered. In this election, there’s such a wide range of topics that could be covered: experience, oil prices, the financial mess...
Bob Schieffer: These debates will be about the issues. There’s no way that they cannot be about real issues. The primary debates were not really debates. You can’t really have a debate when there are 11 people on stage. Those are more like sound bite contests. I think we learned a lot as we went down the line with them, but this will be different. These will be one-on-one, going against each other, and that gives us the advantage of really being able to focus on the issues themselves. What we’ll try to do is give people the best picture we possibly can of who these people are, what they’re positions on the various issues are, and beyond that why they came to all the positions they hold. No "gotcha!" questions here, we’re not trying to ask them things to trip them up or get them to say something negative. We’re trying to get them to say exactly what they mean and they’ll ask each other about it.
I think these debates are going to be decisive, I really do. I think they’re going to be what decides this election. It is very, very close right now, as you well know, and they had enormous audiences when both of these candidates made their acceptance speeches at the conventions. 60 Minutes had a huge audience Sunday [September 21] when Obama and McCain both appeared. I think we’re going to have some of the biggest audiences ever and I think it will be what tips the election one way or the other.
Q: So no flag pin questions?
B.S.: Oh, no. These are not going to be about jewelry.