Right or Left, does it matter? Both sides are going to spin what they can but I will admit this is a tough situation. Ifill has put herself in between a rock and a hard place. On one side, the McCain-Palin ticket has every right to call foul because she does have a vested interest in Obama winning. That said, Ifill is known to be a somewhat fair journalist and even if she is a liberal and has a stake, her credibility will go right out the window with any hint of favoritism towards Sen. Biden. I am very interested to see how far Biden goes with the inexperience label on Palin. It seems to me, being undecided but leaning at this point, that Palin is actually more experienced then Obama was when he started this campaign in the primaries. She has definitely been a little shaky but only in two and three part interviews where the anchors have clearly been try to rattle her. She actually seems honest and caring and does really believe in shaking things up. Those seem to be the same characteristics that people like Obama for. I would even venture to say that you can learn more from her record than his because she has taken more concrete stances. Tonight will be a good test, but as always, my vote is going for the top of the ticket and that needs to be remembered.

Just a book? How about her traveling with Obama on the campaign trail? Or spending enormous amounts of up close and personal time with Obama and family? How about writing at least 3 articles about Obama for Essence magazine glorifying Obama? Republicans want to use the book as proof of bias to excuse Palin if she loses? Give me a break. This is a setup from the word go. Another example of the underhanded tactics of the Dem party.

Again, NON ISSUE-DISTRACTIONS-They are so desperate to qualify the result of this debate the Repubs will go after anyone. This supposed conflict is not there. I have heard nothing but conservative spinning all day on the radio. SMELLS LIKE DESPERATION TO ME!!

BOTTOM LINE: This book goes on sale the day of the day the new President takes office. What sells more books, Obama winning or McCain winning? If the answer is Obama then she has to excuse her self. She stands to gain monetarily from Obama winning the election. The perception of impropriety is enough that she should back out. To quote McCain from today "lets face it" if this was a book about McCain she would of been forced out and hung out to dry by the rest of the media. This is one more example of the double standard in the media that can no longer be denied.

Go back and watch Ifill's 'clearly' disgusted look after reporting on Palin's RNC speech. She was dismissive, and offended, and it showed on her face. Now tell me how fair and unbiased she is. Stop covering for this schill of a 'reporter'. In all fairness though, she was but one of the MANY Liberal reporters in the mainstream media who could not hide their true feelings while covering the RNC. Her actions should have earned her the demotion that Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann got though too.

Klein calls this piece "Working the Refs" and he is right in that Ifill is in the role of a referee, however we learn that this referee has a bias. No surprise in that, most referees have some bias going into a game. The good refs get so busy doing the job that they concentrate on each play and not the outcome.

The difference is that this referee has money on the outcome of this game and THAT is a very big difference. Ifill stands to make a six figure amount if the book does reasonably well and it won't if Obama loses the election. If Ifill really was a referee, she would be fired for betting on the game and if it could be proved she threw the game she would also be prosecuted. Klein's poo-pooing of this is the real example of high RPM spin.

E.Zach Lee-Wright

Rick Klein is so biased it isn't funny. This guy wears his position not on his sleeve but his forehead. What a fraud.

“Clearly, this is the McCain-Palin campaign trying to work the refs. Clearly, this is an attempt to create a storyline of excuses in case Gov. Sarah Palin disappoints tonight.”
Are you clowns on the left really this far out of touch from reality to make such statements? Pointing out the FACT that the "moderator" just happens to be a life long liberal Democrat, who also just happens to be almost done with a favorable book about BO and how great life will be when he is president – is not creating an excuse. Can you, or any left wing bozo reading this, name for me one time (just one time) this has happened in the past in favor to the Repub's??? Has there ever been a moderator of a debate such as this who was a life long Republican and an author of a book favoring the Republican Presidential candidate??? Hell no, you can’t because this would never happen to the dem’s. The dem’s have to play with a stacked deck; otherwise they may actually get a tough question or two and really get thrown for a loop.

Whenever a journalist uses the term "clearly" and "no one" over and over in an article, he is trying to push his agenda.

Let me help, if Obama wins, her book, which comes out on inauguration day, will make more money. Therefore, she has a financial interest in Obama winning. That is called bias.

The liberals are circling the wagons around a biased reporter.

What is wrong with the author of this? Is this objective journalism or a column?

Ifill makes $1,000,000 if Obama wins and makes $40,000 if he loses. That is what is at stake.

Ifill is probably a very good, non partisan journalist, but she should have been pulled OUT OF COMMON COURTESY, the same way Supreme Ct judges recuse themselves from cases in which they have a remote personal interest. If the tables were turned, you can bet that this article would have the opposite theme and so would the party line that the rest of Democrats are taking. So let's get real.

Biden-Ifill
vs.
Palin

She can take the moose Ifill out, Biden will prance around and step into his own crap. LMAO.

Are the big mean Republicans picking on you poor little Dems? We should just lie down and take all the crap you feel like dishing out, huh? Ifell's a liberal pig like the rest if you, and if you can't see the conflicts of interest, then you're not only morally bankrupt, but retarded!

As far as working the ref's. Didn't an NBA ref go to jail for these kind of influences. IFIL is a joke. She fools no one. She a hack from the word go. You watch. If Gov. Palin is making a good point, I bet Ifil jumps right in to talk over her. WITHOUT A DOUBT.

Correction: Ifill, not Ifell (both pronounced "awful").

For Obama's followers, nothing is unfair when it comes to getting him elected. The upcoming V.P. debate is no exception.
The fact that Gwen Ifill will directly benefit financially from Obama getting elected is an obvious conflict of interest.
Can anyone deny that if Obama gets elected, she will sell more books?
As a book peddler (not a publicly funded "journalist"), why wouldn't she do what she can to sell more books, including spin the debate?
Under normal circumstances (except for getting Obama elected) debate moderators are a lot like sports umpires and referees in that they need to be objective and free of conflicts of interest.
This is a great example that when it comes to getting Obama elected, fairness from the media is just too much to ask for and nothing is out of bounds.
If all of the Obamaholics truly believe that Palin is going to do so badly tonight, why do they have to fix the debate with a crooked moderator? Biden should be more than a match for her.
It's unfair situations like this that feeds resentment and divides people after the election is over and makes governing much more difficult for whoever gets elected. Does anyone remember the 2000 election (some say selection) of Bush/Cheney in 2000?
It's just bad karma.

The Negress "moderator" is completely in the tank for Barack Hussein. This is a clear conflict of interest on her part. Only a Marxist media Jew could possibly pretend not to see the obvious problem with this situation.

The article's writer complains about McCain spinning? How about quoting the rest of what McCain actually said? Yes, he said he would have preferred someone who wasn't writing a book about Obama (duh!). But he went on to reiterate what he said yesterday: that he trusts Ms. Ifill to be responsible. Omitting that is hardly objective.

"no one seriously questions the journalistic credentials of the PBS veteran"

I am at least one person who seriously questions the journalistic credentials of Gwen Ifill if objectivity is included in the criteria for determining 'journalistic credentials'.

If it is just a comparison relative to other well known spokesweasles in the MSM (Mostly Smoke and Mirrors) today, then Ifill's credentials are about average.

On the other hand there is serious concern that Tom Brokaw is in the tank for his longtoime friend John McCain.

See:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/arts/television/30brok.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/30/moveon-demands-apology-fr_n_130538.html

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1008/Plouffe_plays_the_Brokaw_card.html?showall

Question to Governor Palin: "Name all the Judges on the Supreme Court in alphabetical and then chronological order and their votes on court decisions in the last 10 years that have a defendant with first letters in their names of B, R, S and cite the references to each case in the U.S. Constitution. And why you disagree with each court decision and how each relates to your 17-year old daughter being pregnant."

Ifill Question to Biden - 2 part question: "Is your chair comfortable? Would you like some more water?"

PS:
Ifil's siter is a Palin Hater. Michelle Malkin has a piece on it. More hate from the Dem's. Why do they hate so much and why are they all so angry.

Ummmmmmm....no one questions Ifill's journalistic credentials of the PBS veteran? I DO! As do many others! You liberal media types kill me. Just look the other way...you are such elitists!

Now go back to the bar and clink your glasses together and snicker how you pulled one over on the right! Don't forget to take your buddy Chris Matthew's too.

Gwen Ifill unbiased??? What a joke. She has ruined PBS' Washington Week by having nothing but liberals on the show. But that is ok, Sarah will kick both her and Biden's rear ends tonight!

From '300'

Palin leaning in close to Biden's left ear and saying,

"You will not enjoy this. It will not be over quickly. I am NOT your queen!"

Then turning to the cameras:

"mr. o'bama, John McCain knew Abraham Lincoln. You're no Abe Lincoln!

"You are no Frederick Douglas and you are no Martin Luther King, Jr.!"