Post debate, reporters expressed concern with how pleased the Republican candidates were with the moderators.
The moderators don't have the same interests as voters, so shouldn't we be worried when the candidates are so pleased with the moderators?
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) November 11, 2015
"I told all three of you, i thought you were doing a terrific job," Cruz tells Cavuto. This a debate or a softball game?
— Jennifer Bendery (@jbendery) November 11, 2015
It sure is nice that the candidates had such a nice time hanging out with the moderators at the debate tonight.
— Jake Grovum (@jgrovum) November 11, 2015
1121PM local: Cavuto still congratulating Fox for not making debate about themselves, discussing CNBC debate!
— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) November 11, 2015
The Chief Strategist & Communications Director for Republican National Committee was happy with the moderators:
A happier @seanspicer on Fox Business set. Tells Cavuto FBN set "the new gold standard of what a debate shd be about."
— Josh Kraushaar (@HotlineJosh) November 11, 2015
RNC chair Reince Priebus poked at CNBC presenting the rigged Fox debate as “how you run a debate”:
And that @CNBC is how you run a debate.
— Reince Priebus (@Reince) November 11, 2015
Trump praised the moderators:
.@realDonaldTrump says #GOPDebate moderators should be proud of job they did "and I'm very proud of job I did" pic.twitter.com/JJMCrTFRvd
— Scott Bauer (@sbauerAP) November 11, 2015
The bad thing about this scrubbed question debate for Republicans is their candidates aren’t getting tested with reality at all.
But apparently Republicans don’t want to compete and win based on merit or ideas- they want or believe they need a rigged game. This is a dangerous way to soften candidates, but Republicans don’t seem to be able to handle any kind of traditional vetting.
Gaming the ref works when the ref is Fox News. It’s not going to work so well when Republicans step out of the Fox bubble. Republican strategists know this, but it seems the candidates are too weak to handle a real debate. This fact begs the question, how could they handle running the country if they can’t handle a few push back questions.
Ms. Jones is the co-founder/ editor-in-chief of PoliticusUSA and a member of the White House press pool.
Sarah hosts Politicus News and co-hosts Politicus Radio. Her analysis has been featured on several national radio, television news programs and talk shows, and print outlets including Stateside with David Shuster, as well as The Washington Post, The Atlantic Wire, CNN, MSNBC, The Week, The Hollywood Reporter, and more.
Sarah is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists.