Jack & Jill Politics

Wow, debate camp must not be going so well if the McCain camp is pre-attacking respected journalist Gwen Ifill who, ahem, happens to be black and therefore couln’t possibly be impartial. McCain supporters are trying to play the race card saying that she’s biased. If that’s true, than Tom Brokaw who is apparently NBC’s liaison and the next debate moderator needs to recuse himself too, no? I mean, where does this stop, exactly? From Politico:

Michelle Malkin and World Net Daily have made a lot of noise today about the fact the Gwen Ifill, the moderator of Thursday’s VP debate, has a new book coming on Inauguration day about Barack Obama and the politics of race —  it’s now leading on the front of Drudge.

Fox’s Greta Van Susteren reports that the McCain campaign didn’t know about it.

“I am stunned….the campaign (actually both) should have been told before the campaign agreed to have her moderate. It simply is not fair — in law, this would create a mistrial.”

But one didn’t have to go the lengths of oppo research to find out about a book that was hiding in plain sight on Amazon of the Random house website.

So the book she’s writing is a historical one called: “Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama.” It will be relevant whether or not Obama wins because the point is that there’s a new group of African-American leaders coming up. The same old racial dynamics don’t play anymore. To insinuate that Ifill, who’s likely to run a tough debate and ask serious questions, can’t be impartial is insulting to all African-Americans. Because y’know, THOSE people always side with their own. McCain/Palin better step back or get burned on this one. Cuz Ms. Ifill ain’t playin. And that goes double for Michelle Malkin.

This whining and cowering is so pathetic. Ms. Ifill should be flattered in a way that she inspires such terror in those who have a weak set of candidates and a lot to hide. This is an experienced moderator who was unafraid to stand up to Dick Cheney during the 2004 VP Debate vs. John Edwards to keep Cheney within the time limit. How dare that uppity bizzatch!? It sure would be helpful if some of Ifill’s fellow journalists & bloggers would come out and back up Ifill. The bottom line, however, is that there was a process by which she was chosen and the McCain camp AGREED to Ifill as moderator along with Obama’s campaign. Maybe Palin wants to suspend the debate until a less black and scary moderator can be found.

After the jump, read the Amazon description of Ifill’s terrifying big black book full of big black power & code words. You know, we’re taking over. Soon America will just be one long strip of crackhouses, fried chicken joints and liquor stores. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

In THE BREAKTHROUGH, veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power.

Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during the Civil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men and women who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the 1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama, and also covers up-and-coming figures from across the nation. Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the “black enough” conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history.

THE BREAKTHROUGH is a remarkable look at contemporary politics and an essential foundation for understanding the future of American democracy.
About the Author

GWEN IFILL is moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and senior correspondent of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Before coming to PBS, she was chief congressional and political correspondent for NBC News, and had been a reporter for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, and Boston Herald American. She lives in Washington, D.C.