The Vice Presidential debate (update)

Further to my last post, I have found an article for Essence written by tonight's moderator, Gwen Ifill, entitled:

"The Obamas: Portrait of an American Family"

You couldn't make this up could you? The article is a puff-piece:

"Barack Obama is sitting in the back of his rented luxury campaign bus with its granite counters and two flat-screen TVs. The Illinois senator's arms are wrapped around his wife, Michelle, whom he doesn't get to see much these days. At this very moment he is, of all things, singing.

I've just asked them how their lives have changed since he won the Democratic presidential nomination. There have definitely been changes, especially for Michelle Obama, who used to pride herself on campaigning by day and rushing home to her daughters each night. Now she is spending more of her days and nights on the road, but seldom in the same place as her husband. And when their daughters‹Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7 get to see their dad, they likely have to share him with thousands of adoring strangers. "Daddy's gone a lot," Sasha notes. "We don't see him that much."

But on this Fourth of July, everyone is together. Even though there are at least a half-dozen aides and family members on the bus with us, it feels intimate back here. Michelle and Barack are curled up on the beige couch, while the children are reading and coloring a few feet away. Michelle folds her long legs to her chin and leans into her husband as he explains the reality of their lives. When he pauses, she finishes his sentences."

The question is, should a journalist that "in the bag" for Barack Obama be moderating the Vice Presidential debate? This is a journalist who has been happy to write a glowing cuddly article about Barack Obama, has a book entitled somewhat presumptuously “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama” and so stands to gain finacially if Barack Obama is elected next month thus ushering in the age of Obama.

I am really pissed off by this affair, virtually the whole media circus are supporting Barack Obama and they are happy to pull any trick that they can to ensure his election.

What should the Republicans do about this? Well it's too late to formally complain and leaving any complaint until after the debate could risk looking like sour grapes, so I suggest Sarah Palin tackling the issue head-on. She should make a statement at the start of the debate along the lines of:

"Gwen, I’m aware of the charges being made about your possible partiality because of the book you are writing about "the Age of Obama", a book set to be published on Inauguration Day. I am aware that it is being claimed that this puts you in a position where you have a financial interest in Barack Obama winning the election and that this means you may have a conflict of interest in your role as moderator tonight. I hope that you can separate your personal political preferences and financial interests from your job here and be professional in your moderation of this debate. Assuming that to be the case, shall we begin?"

Put Gwen Ifill on notice and make all listeners and viewers aware of the strokes being pulled by the MSM.