"Last night I thought it was very poor, quite frankly. I thought he had opportunity after opportunity to go after Barack Obama. I don't know why he held back," noted MRC President Brent Bozell in his October 16 appearance on FNC's "Fox & Friends." [audio version available here]
Reacting to co-host Steve Doocy suggesting that McCain may have "made the case" to sway some undecided voters, Bozell strongly disagreed:
No. I think he had great opportunities to score bigger points. Take the abortion issue, and by the way, I'm glad finally that issue was raised by a moderator. On abortion, Barack Obama's record is perfectly clear. He is in favor of every form of abortion imaginable. He's in favor of taking off all restrictions on abortion. He's in favor of federally-funded abortion, meaning you and I will pay for all the abortions in America. And John McCain never made that point.
The bottom line? The Arizona senator "was uneven... [and] choppy" and "did much better in the previous debate," argued the NewsBusters Publisher.
"Fox & Friends" co-host Gretchen Carlson concurred, adding that debate moderator Bob Schieffer "opened the door" for McCain to attack, but that "it's not within Sen. McCain's nature... to do that."
