NEW YORK — ABC News drew both impressive ratings and a heap of complaints about how Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos moderated the Democratic presidential debate, criticism that Stephanopoulos on Thursday called a sign of how much people care.
By Thursday evening, more than 16,800 comments were posted on ABC News’ website, the tone overwhelmingly negative. A prominent TV critic, Tom Shales of The Washington Post, said Gibson and Stephanopoulos “turned in shoddy, despicable performances.”
There was some positive feedback, with columnist David Brooks of The New York Times giving ABC News’ performance an “A.”
The Obama campaign, whose supporters were most angered by the debate, quickly sent out a fundraising appeal Thursday titled “Gotcha.” The liberal advocacy group MoveOn said it would run an ad protesting ABC if 100,000 people signed its petition.
Gibson’s “World News” did a story about the criticisms Thursday evening.
“We appreciate all the comments sent in of all points of view,” Gibson said.
The prime-time debate from Philadelphia on Wednesday was seen by 10.7 million people, according to Nielsen Media Research. That’s the most of any debate this election cycle — topping the 9.3 million who watched the Democrats on ABC on Jan. 5 — and proving that the lull in primaries before Tuesday’s in Pennsylvania hasn’t dulled interest in the contest between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.
“The questions were tough and fair and appropriate and relevant,” Stephanopoulos told The Associated Press. “We wanted to focus at first on the issues that were not focused on during the last debates.”
The criticism comes with the territory, he said. “It’s one more sign of how engaged people are over this election,” he said.
The first three issues raised concerned comments made by Obama’s former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright; comments that Obama made about the draw of guns and religion to some rural Americans; and Clinton’s false claim that she had been under sniper fire in Bosnia while first lady.
Obama was asked about why he hasn’t worn an American flag pin on his lapel and about his relationship with a former member of the Weather Underground, the radical 1970s group that protested the Vietnam War through violent demonstrations and bombings. All of those issues were raised before Iraq and the economy came up.
Greg Mitchell of the trade publication Editor & Publisher said it was “perhaps the most embarrassing performance by the media in a major presidential debate this year.”
The Times’ Brooks, posting comments less than an hour after the debate ended, predicted Democrats — and particularly Obama supporters — would jump all over ABC.
“I understand the complaints, but I thought the questions were excellent,” he wrote. “The journalist’s job is to make politicians uncomfortable, to explore evasions, contradictions and vulnerabilities. Almost every question tonight did that.”
