SALON

Friday, Dec 17, 2010 7:30 PM UTC

CNN will co-host presidential debate with PAC-affiliated “Tea Party” group

The 2012 GOP contenders will face questions from GOP political operatives on America's Most Trusted Name in News

By

Topics: 2012 Elections, War Room, CNN, Media Criticism, Republican Party, Tea Parties,

CNN will co-host presidential debate with PAC-affiliated Wolf Blitzer

CNN will co-host a Republican presidential debate next year with the Tea Party Express, which is basically a PAC run by Republican political operatives. It is a slightly puzzling decision from a “basic standards of journalistic ethics” standpoint, although from a “desperation for attention and the participation of a bunch of Fox employees” standpoint it actually makes perfect sense.

CNN political director Sam Feist is excited for this opportunity to attempt to justify having a Republican campaign operation sponsor a presidential debate on a supposedly objective news network:

Sam Feist, CNN Political Director and Vice President of Washington-based programming said, “The Tea Party movement is a fascinating, diverse, grassroots force that already has drastically changed the country’s political landscape.”

“Undecided voters turn to CNN to educate themselves during election cycles, so it is a natural fit for CNN to provide a platform for the diverse perspectives within the Republican Party, including those of the Tea Party,” Feist added.

“Diverse” and “grass-roots” are not the first words that come to mind when I think of the Tea Party Express — the first words that come to mind are actually “lol Joe Miller” — but it will be fun for undecided voters to hear the perspective of the wing of the Republican Party that thinks Christine O’Donnell is a better candidate than Mike Castle.

I’m not sure what role the TPE will have in selecting or drafting the questions, but I’m guessing that there will be a lot of questionable assumptions, faulty premises and blatant misinformation baked into each one. “Governor Romney, will you cut the deficit by ending the death tax, repealing Obamacare, invading Iran, or some combination of the three?” “Senator Thune, do you think it’s super-unconstitutional or just regular-unconstitutional for the nanny state government to allow public employee union thugs to force-feed my child arugula instead of wholesome American corn syrup?”

The debate will happen on Labor Day 2011, in Tampa, Fla., and it won’t even be the first debate of the 2012 cycle, because they’re also holding one in early June.

Alex Pareene

Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More Alex Pareene.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 26 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations