WASHINGTON - MoveOn.org is taking aim at ABC News over Wednesday night’s Democratic presidential debate between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, arguing the network’s moderators trivialized the issues in the campaign by asking “gotcha” questions. 
The liberal activist group, which supports Obama, has posted a petition on its Web site and promises to run an ad protesting ABC if it gets 100,000 people to sign the petition.
During a nearly two-hour debate, Obama frequently found himself on the defensive as the moderators grilled him about his fiery pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, his relationship with a 1960s radical and his failure to wear a lapel flag pin.
The Illinois senator was also asked about his remarks earlier this month to a San Francisco fundraiser in which he said small-town Pennsylvanians “cling to guns or religion” because they are frustrated with their economic woes.
Clinton, his Democratic rival, and Arizona Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, have criticized Obama over the small-town voter comments. Obama has said his words were ill-chosen.
“Moderators George Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson spent the first 50 minutes obsessed with distractions that only political insiders care about –verbal gaffes, polling numbers, the stale Rev. Wright story, and the old-news Bosnia story,” MoveOn.org said in a statement.
The group also accused the moderators of “channeling Karl Rove” for asking Obama if he loves the American flag.
In Raleigh, N.C., Obama also expressed frustration with the debate, saying “it took us 45 minutes before we started talking about a single issue that matters to the American people.”
Click here for more Reuters 2008 campaign coverage.
- Photo credit: Reuters/Tim Shaffer (ABC News’ debate)
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ABCNews isn’t running for President of the USA. Obama and Clinton are. I learned more about the candidates in that one evening than the media has given me in past nine months. If the candidates can’t handle the questions then they can get the hell out of the race.
Obama’s attitude on capital gains taxation is tripe and shows an immature understanding of how our economy works. Good job, ABC!
- Posted by RLythgoeNo wonder the US Networks are stealing our Canadian journalists. Charlie and George should come to Canada for some schooling.
- Posted by SonnyThe U.S. system of excessively lengthy campaigns is a great part of the problem in generating “divisiveness.” Zero-sum situations (i.e., where competitors can not share the “prize”) are well researched by economists and social psychologists, and naturally results in each party working to “defeat” the other. It is absurd to claim that either candidate is to blame when it is the way the system is set up. The UK’s Prime Minister campaigns last approximately 3 months from start to finish. There is no evidence (from the research) that “divisiveness” in zero-sum situations can be eliminated without altering the system. We should do that.
- Posted by billAre people serious in thinking that the debate was unfair, and that certain mistakes and issues should actually be off-limits when dealing with a candidate for President? This is unbelievable. Why Obama thinks he has some sort of sacred circle of protection around him that allows him to avoid tough questions is beyond me. He is basically auditioning for a job–the job of the most powerful person in the world. This guy is a complete joke. If I had ever thought I would vote for him in the past, I have changed my mind. I’m disgusted by his inability to face up to the questions and answer them. He seems to feel that he is above them. He isn’t. They are serious questions about his judgment and his ethics. Hillary Clinton has had to answer many tougher questions than Barack has. She has earned my trust and my vote. I hope the people in Pennsylvania think twice before giving their vote to someone who thinks the way Obama does. What a liar he is.
- Posted by Brian WilliamsI hope the voters can see that the questions from Beavis & Butthead from ABC are a distraction from the real issues. And I hope that Barack Obama actually gains from the terrible “debate”.
- Posted by joe1. Strong Woman 2. Strong Blackman 3. Strong POW
We have exceptional strong professional candidates - That we put on this list - I think we did a pretty good job - if not whose fault is it really?
I thank you three for the courage you have putting yourselves under this horrific microscope.
Jesse Thurmond
- Posted by Jesse Thurmondi think the debate was an embrarrasment to the voters,and then to the world you have pleople losing their jobs,homes and, gas,food,and everything else going up and the only thing they could think about is a flag pin which i might no-one was wearing these 2 mens was suppose to be profesionals but you could’t tell that by watching the hillary special.so i will not be watching abc just like fox.but this type of tv need to stay off the air and we are tried of it and we know that our God is fed up so we are bitter.
- Posted by Dorothy SmithThanks MOVEON.ORG for taking a stand on such a ridiculous and very obvious attempt to waylay Obama.
- Posted by Cynthia PendergraphIt’s the last time I will support moveon. All the debates are important ones, and this was one whereby
the voters could take a view into their character, their
views and the issues.
ABC gave to us a professional debate, and I have no
- Posted by Fanniedislike for any of them, or their format with this
debate, and have no need to smear the candidates.
[...] Soros water-carriers say they will run an ad against ABC–Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulous photoshopped as Hitler and Eva Braun? Nah, too [...]
- Posted by Michelle Malkin » MoveOn’s definition of “hurting the country”Whine, whine, whine. It’s so hard for the elitist media/politicians/liberals to admit that Hillary won the debate on April 15th hands down. The best they can say is that BO was on the defensive….etc etc etc. Hillary from the beginning has never gotten a break but just the opposite from the BO supporters. I don’t blame her for doing/saying all she can to win this nomination. Who else does she have on her side except her family and we loyal Hillary supporters. Until Texas/Ohio/SNL BO supporters were bashing her, thrashing her– a fellow Democrat — like I’ve never seen one Democratic candidate do to another. BO supporters thought that BO had it in the bag. Then they went into a panic and are now crying foul because Hillary cannot only “take it, but she can dish it” and they’re realizing BO can’t. You can say BO hasn’t gone negative in this campaign– he hasn’t had to because his surrogates have done it for him to help preserve his alleged squeaky clean image. BO supporters with a loud microphone have spinned and twisted information enough to deamonize Hillary. She was kicked when she was down without mercy. What did she do to deserve this kind of treatment from fellow Democrats. Now BO and his supporters are complaining because she’s throwing daggers left and right to BO. It’s your fault—- you who did BO’s dirty work. I say go for the juggler, Hillary. Negative ratings are your badge of courage as far as I’m concerned. Go all the way to the convention. And as for you BO, get used to what you got last night, cause if you win (God forbid), you ain’t seen nothing yet. Your jokes and making light of questions asked at last night’s debates shows your immaturity. Super delegates: were you watching?????
- Posted by MichelleI think some type of boycott of ABC is the appropriate action for this ambush of Mr. Obama! Either refrain from watching the news or ABC programming for a certain time period to let them know that this is unacceptable journalism!
Steve
- Posted by Steven ColeSt. Charles, MO
Obama and his supporters are used to him being treated with kid gloves, being asked very easy questions and not being grilled. He’s gotten a free pass from the media and now the tables are starting to turn.
The truth is, he experienced a very small fraction of the heat and criticism Hillary has been dealt over these past 4 months.
If he’s going to be the Democratic nominee, he must learn how to handle these questions because he’s going to be under fire from the GOP. It’ll be 100x worse than the mild questioning he was subjected to at the Philadelphia debate. Judging from his awful ramblings and stuttering, he’ll need to prepare better so McCain doesn’t devour him.
- Posted by JenObama didn’t go into the gutter with the bottom dwelling Hillary and her crony Stephanopoulos. Just goes to show that he is the only one in the game with the discipline and judgement that deserves to be president.
- Posted by BobShame on ABC!! I always preferred listening to ABC News but not anymore. George Stephanopoulos is definitely seeking his old job as White House press secretary if Hillary is elected. He was so biased as a moderator and Charlie Gibson was almost as bad. They tried their best to dig up very old and not relevent information on Obama. Shame on you George!!
- Posted by JohnAs far as whether Obama can deliver as President, if he can get us out of the Iraq mess AND in winning the presidency create an overwhelming majority of dems in the house and senate he can get everything he wants done, his approval ratings will be high enough and he is smart enough to write good legislation.
Obama (or Hillary for that matter) won’t be blamed for the poor economy. He can do some smart things to at least we don’t go into a bad long term recession but can’t guarantee the sort of economy Clinton was fortunate enough to inherit.
I think people will see he is fixing Bush’s mess….and while a lot of the needed policies will cost money we might not have there are others that won’t…replacing the three retiring supreme court justices with competent ones, fixing the justice department…creating green jobs, cutting peoples health care costs.
It might take until the end of his term to turn it around but he could do it. He will be tested more than any other president in his first term.
As long as he shifts to responsible economic poliices all of a sudden our dollar will be worth more.
It is not an easy situation but if he can inspire us we can move forward. I think he can some will question it…but if he can inspire young people who supported him to volunteer, get involved in politics that would be great.
Also if he can lessen the power of lobbyists and all the bs in washington that could really cut the amount he has to tax people…so much of the spending is unnecessary. He will appeal to the Republicans if he can cut government spednign.
- Posted by JackGeorge Stephanopoulos and Charlie Gibson were a total disgrace. They were completely out of focus on the real issues, and biased in favor of Clinton. Obama appeared more presidential than Clinton. He gets my vote.
- Posted by ChelseaI don’t know Moderator Charlie Gibson’s intention. But I can understand the ‘gotcha’ questions from the Ex-press secretary of Bill Clinton, George Stephanopoulos, was baseless and bias.
On one hand, there will be a backfire that regret them.
- Posted by NoWhereNearMove on dot org should practice more transparency and let us know who are its leaders, who is funding them, and the postal address for their headquarters.
- Posted by LuigiAn underinformed, overstimulated Wesleyan sophomore liveblogs the Democratic debate:
“8:22: Gibson poses a question to Obama about Jeremiah Wright’s anti-American comments. But has anyone considered that Wright said some pretty true things about pervasive racism in America? Read your Cornel West, folks.”
http://www.236.com/news/2008/04/17/the_d emocratic_debate_guest_li_5926.php
- Posted by Eliana