Debates: How About Some Diversity, Maybe?

When the moderators of the presidential debates were announced, I observed that ABC was left out -- possibly to punish it for its terrible job with the final Democratic face-off. But Michel Martin was struck by something else: All three of the moderators -- PBS's Jim Lehrer, CBS's Bob Schieffer and NBC's Tom Brokaw -- are old white guys.

Would it have been that hard, Martin asks, for the Commission on Presidential Debates to have picked someone who was, say, merely white and male (Anderson Cooper), or white and old (Lesley Stahl), but not all three? Or just to bump up Gwen Ifill -- who is neither white nor male, and who, at 52, is 16 years younger than any of the current moderators -- from the vice-presidential debate, which she's refereeing again this year?

It's not just a matter of political correctness, says Martin:

Think about it. What if the commission, a non-partisan, non-profit group that has sponsored all presidential and vice presidential debates since 1988, had picked three 40-something African Americans to moderate all three debates? No matter how much experience and name recognition those journalists brought with them, people would question whether, as a group, they represent the full range of views and perspectives in the American electorate, and indeed whether such a lineup was fair to both candidates.

Excellent point. I don't, however, agree with Martin's suggestion that Katie Couric, "one of the best interviewers in the business," would have been a good substitute. Couric's "Miss Frigidaire" interview with Hillary Clinton shows she's prone to the same sorts of ad hominem, off-topic questions that turned ABC's final debate into such a fiasco.

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