Sen. McCain says he’s going to be the farmer’s “worst nightmare” and Mr. Stephanopoulos lets it pass. Sen. McCain performs a riff on some well-practiced talking points on the Ayers issue and Mr. Stephanopoulos, allows it to run virtually unchallenged as if it’s political improvisation. George Will thinks it’s capital gains tax that’s the real deal gaffe and brings it around twice. Mr. Donaldson and Ms. Roberts suggest that Sen. Obama's supporters need to grow up, when they should have said network news leaders have lost their journalistic mojo and will soon lose their relevancy. Circle the wagons as you will, but it’s over for this type of nonsense. You’re essentially lost and irrelevant because you insist on covering this election as if it were a reality TV show, replete with taped whisperings and nefarious alliances. We know better.

I watched in amazement at the interview with McCain today. After the debacle of the debate, i.e., flag pin means patriotism, I could not believe that McCain wasn't called out for not wearing one. Or is it just assumed that McCain is patriotic and anyone with the name Barak Hussein Obama isn't.

Seems your newscast is just as "fair and balanced" as that other one. Fox.

Every Knows the Candidates Platforms and their what they wish they could do if elected.

This debate was the best ever. People got to meet the real candidates. The real People they are. What they are made of. How they handle themselves. what kind of Character they have.

Question your choice of candidate if you feel they did not do in the debate. if you learned something about them you do not like, then thank goodness you seen it now.

Don't run your mouth off about the people hosting or asking questions. It is not their fault you candiate said or acted like they did.

Time to Wake up and Grown up Americans.

We need a strong President. One who can answer difficult questions, who does not bulk under pressure. Who knows their stuff. Who is Proud to be an American. Who is Proud to Show they support their country the people. Some one who will defend you and me, and this Great Country, with their life if need be.

Obama is not the one. Obama is not cut of to be president. He has proven that.

A vote for America is a vote against Obama.

Sharon - I agree with you 100%. Everyone knows the policy statments of Obama and Hillary. You can infact find them online if you want on their website.

Character of a person is very important and this debate accomplished that.

Sorry to say, Obama's character is flawed and radical.

When ever I have heard this show talk about taxes it seems they argue to keep the elite medias' taxes from going up. Maybe we should look deeper into capital gains increase revenue from decreasing rates. Perhaps this means they were hiding these gains until the tax decreased. This is still just minor issue. The payroll tax cap needs to be eliminated, this only effects individual incomes and will have no effect on average individual and certainly will not negatively affect police, firemen or teachers as Hillary and George Will assert.

The show today was evidence of why I watch every week. However, that non-stop spinning, moving, starbursting and shimmering logo in the bottom right hand corner has got to go. It is distracting and aggravating. It not only displays disrespect to those who come on the show to give their perspectives, it is an insult to the intelligence of the viewers. Shows of this callibre should bring attention to the content they present, not serve as overt advertising for the network and its websight.

I would like to make some observations about today's roundtable discussion:

First, it would have been refreshing in this climate of "post-criticism repositioning" by candidates to hear news journalists take responsibility for legitimate criticism offered by their audience. While much criticism exaggerates the offenses committed, there is usually a kernel of truth in at least some of it. I would have appreciated hearing four people whom I respect in the news world acknowledge that perhaps the superficial questioning on topics which frankly most of us are sick of hearing about regardless of whom we support in this election went on more than a little too long.

Secondly, an interesting and logically fallacious argument was offered to defend this line of questioning. There seemed to be general agreement with Kokie Roberts' assertion that people don't decide whom to vote for based on the issues but rather on whom they "like" and/or whom they "trust", and therefore, the questions which were asked on Wednesday evening were appropriate. Well, wow, what do we do with people in this country who, for some strange reason prove the fallaciousness of that statement? This is a universal affirmative statement which (1) logically cannot be shown to be true. I am a person and, speaking only for myself, can tell you that I am KEENLY interested in the issues as well as in whether I believe I can trust one of these candidates more than the others. This is all that needs to be shown to successfully refute your claim. While I perfectly understand that decisions are not made by voters who are just like me, it seems you are ready to say that I am just like every other voter, and all of us together are really not interested in the issues.

Further, you all, (2) offer as the only support for this claim that voters recognize the president has not much to do with how decisions about issues are really made. Really? The last eight years, it seems, show that the person in the White House would seem to at least seriously challenge this supporting claim. Yet, you do not explore this topic in any depth, either, but rather, offering no real substantive evidence for the truth of either of these claims, assume their truth, and serve these assumed truths up as justification for 45 minutes of questioning which cannot and does not offer any further elucidation on the subject of either Obama's patriotism or Hillary Clinton's basic truthfulness.

Your argument, rather, implicitly patronizes those of us who objected to your persistent, unhelpful line of questioning on Wednesday evening, and in a way makes your seemingly honest reflections this morning seem more like after-game rationalizations for points lost.

Further, you have characterized American voters at large in ways which are hugely offensive to those of us who tune in to your program and others fairly regularly to learn something about these candidates' views on issues which seriously affect our lives. You reveal to me that you may be as out of touch with at least some of this nation's voters as those among the candidates whom you would like to characterize as elitist.

You know, in my work, I make the best guess about how things are and should be. I act on what I think is the best information, and I try to take my hits a bit graciously when I'm wrong. This isn't easy, and I don't always manage to do this well. You would gain much credibility with me and with other serious, intelligent voters if you would just take your hits, learn from your mistakes and move on to learn more about how some of us voters actually DO think. I am a teacher in a small, private college in Washington State. I wrestle with my students every day about their responsibilities as citizens to take issues seriously and to rise above this kind of simplistic, self-protective conversation. Your collective professional judgment earlier this week in choosing to keep us all mired in the quick-sand of whether the wearing or non wearing of a lapel pin honestly makes someone more or less patriotic, and whether overstating the danger of one's previous experiences makes one generally less truthful, combined with your seeming inability this morning honestly to face the limits of your own logic have made my job just a little bit harder.

Added to all this, and I apologize for the length of this response to your program, I have watched over the last several months John McCain, Hillary Clinton, AND Barack Obama wrestle with their tempers in the face of persistent, difficult, and sometimes, frankly, gratuitously sensational questioning. I have no problem with the idea that Obama needs to take it on the chin like everyone else, but let's not lose sight of the fact that every one of these considerably-talented persons has had and likely will continue to have this very human struggle. Let's not just say ONE of these people may not make a good president because of this defensiveness. If the criticism holds for Obama, then it needs to hold across the board for each of the other two. Let's face it: ALL of them (and all of us as humans) must deal with this problem.

On a positive note, I appreciated the content of George's interview with John McCain. Your questions were questions about the issues, and you graciously allowed McCain time to make his positions as well as some of his reasoning clear to the audience. This is JUST what we need. Tough questions along these lines are helpful to the audiences you serve, and I would agree that both Obama and Clinton need to take responsibility for their own answers to these kinds of questions as well. Unfortunately, all of this brings me back to last Wednesday evening and an opportunity almost completely lost: Clinton made some enormously important assertions about how she would deal with Iran and other countries in the Middle East in the face of any threat to Israel. Yet, by the time you all got to this part of the conversation, the evening was nearly over, and most of our public conversation since last Wednesday evening has been about (1) Obama's ability to stand the heat in the kitchen and (2) criticism of ABC's handling of the event. As Americans we are better than this, and we owe it to our children and their children simply to remember this.

Thank you for hearing my sentiments.

I do not know why Obama supporters are bitter... they cannot take a small amount heat on their candidate.

I think this is nothing new, the black people are kind of that way ... blaming everything on race. If they do not get something blame it on race. If they fail on something blame it on race.

Grow up Obama supporters. Admit, your candidate failed in the debate and move on.

I was curious if as a "journalist" George Stephanopoulos would try to discuss the debate controversy in balanced way but he again showed his lack of journalist integrity by stacking the discussion panel with friends on whose opinion he knew he count. Where are the critics? George Stephanopoulos is frankly a hypocrite or even a coward. If some newsmaker is on his show he makes sure that the critics viewpoint is presented but when he is the newsmaker he hides behind his friends.

George, good program this morning. But I noticed a circling of the wagons, so to speak, with the "classic" roundtable. Feeling the heat from Wednesday? No doubt, it was obvious. That debate was a disaster as a debate. I'd give it a 3.5 on a scale of 10. The poorest of this political season. Next time hire CNN or Fox to do it for you. Funny too, we'd just switched to Gibson from CBS but now may go to NBC for news.

McCain is in left field about Iraq. If the elections coming up are going to ban groups with Militias' than all groups need to be banned. The election will be a fraud. We have installed an Iraqi government that is controlled by pro Iranian militias. The Kurds, Sunni, and Shiite all have militias.
As for Reverend Wright, if I were to denounce all ex Marines, i know, for making stupid statements I would have no ex Marine friends. You should also judge McCain by the racist and elitist statements of many of his republican supporters.

I made a point of not watching

George-did you possibly find time during McCain interview to ask his response to article NYT today re:military "analysts" spewing Pentagon propaganda? McCain is closely allied w/military & must know these PR shills. Is covert propaganda coming from our gov. ethical/legal? Are networks/cable news just an expensive Pravda?

MORE OBAMA LIES!

Charlie Gibson told Obama: "In 1996, your campaign issued a questionnaire, and your writing was on the questionnaire that said you favored a ban on handguns."

Obama denied filling out the questionnaire. HE FREQUENTLY HAS AMNESIA!

Clinton adviser, Howard Wolfson, added: "Perhaps he could explain how his handwriting could appear on it without actually seeing it?" Wolfson added during a Thursday conference call with reporters.

On another issue, Obama’s excuse for WILLIAM AYERS is he was only a young boy when Ayers bombed the U.S.

Why didn’t Obama tell the REST of the story?

In the 1990’s, Obama (AS AN ADULT MAN) served on a board with Ayers, the Woods Foundation, which was a paid, “underline PAID”, directorship position. They worked together and attended fundraisers together. Ayers held fundraisers and was a contributor to Obama’s Chicago campaign, plus the Obamas and the Ayers visited each other quite often. ENOUGH SAID!

Obama’s associations with Wright, Ayers, Sinclair, Farrakhan, the Black Panthers, Rezko, Meeks, Malley, Auchi, Khalidi, McPeaks, Nadhmi, Said, and Michelle Obama, among others, deserve being vetted. What’s their fear? DON’T FORGET THESE PEOPLE.

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU VOTE FOR!

three remarks about This Week's program today.
1 Pastor Hagee does not support the Jewish people he is merely trying to speed up the Apocalypse. I wish George had followed up on that or had given John MCCain a copy of Kevin Phillips book The American Theocracy.
2. The Boston Globe, Washington Post and the Philadelphia Daily news do not agree with your cronies. So you are not off the hook on debate performance.
3. George Will should read Fact Checker on Capital Gains tax. Charlie and he are only partially right. It stimulates temporarily at least a short term increase. Long term is less certain

Lovely set, classic round table nostalgic. Now, when are you going to hire a professional moderator?

In Response to: For McCain

To everyone on this site: Why hasn't anyone objected to his bigoted post(?)

"...the black people are kind of that way ... blaming everything on race. If they do not get something blame it on race. If they fail on something blame it on race."

Besides, does anyone really still believe only black people are for Obama???

Get_a_Clue - I do not know about that. But it is clear 85% of Blacks are voting for him just becoz he is black. I am sure that can be thought of as blacks been racist by whites.

Great article here.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/04/why_not_blame_obama.html

Obama lie .. Nominates himself as President.

Its funny all his ads in PA and OR are running it.

OBAMA falsely claims to be the "PRESIDENT" in TV COMMERCIALS in OREGON!

http://www.hillaryclintonforum.net/discussion/showthread.php?p=61042#post61042