Reviewing the questions posed at Thursday night's vice presidential
debate, ABC correspondent Martha Raddatz clearly favored Team Obama, but not entirely. Out
of 48 discrete questions and follow-ups, a plurality (19, or 40%)
incorporated a pro-Obama/Biden or anti-Romney/Ryan agenda, vs. 25% (12
questions) that skewed in the other direction and 35% (17 questions)
that were neutral or purely information-seeking.
Raddatz showed almost no bias in her foreign policy questions, which
split down the middle: eight pro-Romney vs. seven pro-Obama (not
counting the neutrals). But on domestic issues, especially on the budget
and taxes, she practically joined Joe Biden in pounding on Paul Ryan,
with a dozen questions that incorporated liberal campaign themes,
compared to just four based on a conservative premises, a stark
three-to-one liberal tilt.
But either oblivious to Raddatz's bias or thrilled by it, ABC pulled out
all of the stops in patting their colleague on the back. Immediately
after the debate, anchor Diane Sawyer hailed "the great Martha Raddatz." Closing out the primetime coverage, Sawyer gushed: "If we seem very proud, we've always known what a great journalist she is. We're happy everybody else does, too."
The love-fest continued on this morning's Good Morning America: "We're hearing a whole lot of praise for our friend and colleague, Martha Raddatz," George Stephanopoulos cheered. Fill-in co-host Amy Robach enthused: "Martha Raddatz for President!"
Wrapping up his debate re-cap, correspondent Jonathan Karl agreed: "Now,
there will be a lot of discussion over who was stronger last night,
Biden or Ryan. But I've got to tell you around here, there was one clear
consensus winner and that was the moderator, Martha Raddatz, who taught
the world what we all know around here, George. You don't mess with
Martha."
On foreign policy, Raddatz did put Team Obama on the defensive
regarding their blundered response to last month's terrorist attack that
killed the U.S. Ambassador in Benghazi, Libya. Raddatz confronted
Biden: "The State Department has now made clear, there were no
protesters there. It was a pre-planned assault by heavily armed men.
Wasn't this a massive intelligence failure, Vice President Biden?"
She
followed up by zeroing in on the Obama administration's false claims
that the attack was a "spontaneous" protest: "Why were people talking
about protests? When people in the consulate first saw armed men
attacking with guns, there were no protesters."
But she also hit Ryan with a manufactured liberal complaint, faulting
the timing of Romney's initial statements about the Obama
administration's apologies over an inconsequential anti-Muslim film:
"Was that really appropriate right in the middle of the crisis?"
But the near-balance she showed on foreign policy was absent when it
came to domestic policy. Raddatz used Democratic talking points to hit
Ryan on his plan to reform Medicare: "What is your specific plan for
seniors who really can't afford to make up the difference in the value
of what you call a premium support plan and others call a voucher?"
Echoing Biden, Raddatz repeatedly pounded Ryan for details of the
Republican tax simplification plan: "You have refused to offer specifics
on how you pay for that 20 percent across-the-board tax cut. Do you
actually have the specifics?" After listening to Ryan's answer, Raddatz
inserted herself again: "No specifics, again." Then again: "And you
guarantee this math will add up?"
Raddatz also sounded like an Obama surrogate when it came to the need
to restore the defense budget, repeatedly hammering Ryan: "You're going
to increase the defense budget.... I want to know how you do the math
and have this increase in defense spending?...What national security
issues justify an increase?"
Raddatz's only pointed question to Biden on the budget asked him what
policies "beyond raising taxes on the wealthy" he would suggest to
"substantially reduce the long-term deficit?" When Biden immediately
began talking about raisiing taxes on the wealthy by letting the Bush
tax rates expire in January, Raddatz did not pull him back to her
premise as she did repeatedly with Ryan.
Raddatz ended the debate with a neutral question asking the two about
the Catholic faith and the abortion question, but followed up with a
liberal question to Ryan: "If the Romney-Ryan ticket is elected, should
those who believe that abortion should remain legal be worried?"
Debate moderators are supposed to ask the questions that voters -- of
both parties, and of all ideological stripes -- want answered. To her
credit, Raddatz found balance when it came to her area of expertise,
foreign policy, but sounded like a conventional liberal journalist on
everything else.
[Thanks to MRC's Geoff Dickens and Scott Whitlock for their help in compiling these statistics and rounding up the transcripts.]