Friday’s Morning Joe featured a discussion by the roundtable on the subject of the debates and the fairness needed for them. While Newsbusters has already discussed the segment after this that examined the “non-biased moderators in previous elections”, Morning Joe also played a clip of Dr. Ben Carson discussing the need to reform the debate after the bias was so apparent at the CNBC debate on Wednesday night. The roundtable would showcase their surprise by the leadership of Dr. Carson when the clip was over.
When the clip was over, Joe Scarborough, who thought Carson lacked staying power, would begin with, “Yeah man, I'm totally with him there.” Mika Brzezinski added that “You have to treat the front runner like the front runner and if you know, have some opinion about that front runner, ask the front runner questions that are legitimate journalistic questions about policy. And if your opinions are correct, then the truth will come out.”
While the Morning Joe crew returned to ignoring Carson shortly after the clip, the fact is, they saw Carson acting as a leader. Here is Eugene Robinson’s take on Carson, adding the most support to Carson’s argument for reforming the debate and even calling him a major candidate, something that Morning Joe has for a while been unwilling to do.
Someone will get a substantive question, somebody will get a personality question, and somebody else will get something off the wall. I don't know how fantasy football gambling got in there. It was kind of off the wall question to ask. That was maybe Jeb Bush’s best moment of the night. So it’s weird, something should be done. What's interesting to me about this, there’s Ben Carson is showing leadership, which is really kind of interesting. As a major candidate.
See the relevant transcript below.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI: Here's Carson talking about his disappointment with the debates yesterday in Colorado.
[video clip]
DR. BEN CARSON: I’ve asked my staff to reach out to the other campaigns. To talk about a change in format. The specific things we're looking for are, first of all, moderators interested in actually getting the facts and not gotcha questions. And we're looking for an opportunity to explain what your program is, what your philosophy for leadership is and be questioned about it.
[clip ends]JOE SCARBOROUGH: Yeah man, I'm totally with him there. Gene, these debates have been total jokes. I hate to say that.
BRZEZINSKI: Too many people, too many moderators sometimes, added to too many candidates. It’s just kind of a mess.
SCARBOROUGH: The moderators, again, we don't need to name their names anymore. We've named them enough here. But over the course of all the debates, other than Anderson Cooper and the Democratic debate, they tried to make it about themselves.
BRZEZINKSI: Was that just him alone? That was good.
SCARBOROUGH: If I were a candidate, I got to say it. The opening question of the Fox debate, and then the opening question of the CNBC where you had a reporter talking about your policies that suck so bad you have just as much chance of flapping your wings and flying off like a bird, it sets the tone for the whole debate. It's almost like these people are trying to be stars or something.
BRZEZINSKI: If I can add.
SCARBOROUGH: Why would a candidate put up with that?
BRZEZINSKI: You have to treat the front runner like the front runner and if you know, have some opinion about that front runner, ask the front runner questions that are legitimate journalistic questions about policy. And if your opinions are correct, then the truth will come out. Instead, what we saw happen several times now in several debates is a “narrative” about the media being either not fair, bias, or grubby and kind of like not interested in the right things. That all played out.
SCARBOROUGH: And the worst thing is, Gene, they're making about themselves not the candidates.
EUGENE ROBINSON: Well you know, number one, it is a hard thing to do. And number two, from the point of view of someone moderating these debates, you don't want people to say the day after, oh well he or she just tossed softballs at them. You want to be tough and you want to hold them accountable. That said you have so many candidates and moderators that there's just a weird randomness to all these debates. Someone will get a substantive question, somebody will get a personality question, and somebody else will get something off the wall. I don't know how fantasy football gambling got in there. It was kind of off the wall question to ask. That was maybe Jeb Bush’s best moment of the night. So it’s weird, something should be done. What's interesting to me about this, there’s Ben Carson is showing leadership, which is really kind of interesting. As a major candidate.
