Campaigns express concern over role of debate moderator

Romney and Obama shake hands in at the debate in Denver, Oct. 3, 2012. (Getty)

The moderators of the 2012 presidential and vice presidential debates have been under considerable scrutiny, perhaps more than any other election cycle.

And according to Time magazine, both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama's campaigns have expressed concern over how CNN's Candy Crowley--the moderator of Tuesday's town hall debate in Hempstead, N.Y.--is approaching her role.

The campaigns sent a memo to the Commission on Presidential Debates prior to the first debate on Oct. 3, claiming they were under the impression that the moderator would play a limited role in the debate's town-hall format, as the commission announced in July:

The second presidential debate will take the form of a town meeting, in which citizens will ask questions of the candidates on foreign and domestic issues. Candidates each will have two minutes to respond, and an additional minute for the moderator to facilitate a discussion. The town meeting participants will be undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization.

[Related: Lehrer's debate moderation mauled by critics]

From the campaigns' memo:

In managing the two-minute comment periods, the moderator will not rephrase the question or open a new topic ? The moderator will not ask follow-up questions or comment on either the questions asked by the audience or the answers of the candidates during the debate or otherwise intervene in the debate except to acknowledge the questioners from the audience or enforce the time limits, and invite candidate comments during the two-minute response period.

But in an interview on her own network on Oct. 5, Crowley said would not be afraid to ask follow-up questions if necessary.

"Once the table is kind of set by the town-hall questioner, there is then time for me to say, 'Hey, wait a second, what about X, Y, Z?'" Crowley said.

"I'm not a fly on the wall," she recently told Politico.

Through a CNN spokeswoman, Crowley declined to comment on Monday. "Any questions about debate format should be directed to the Commission on Presidential Debates," the spokeswoman wrote in an email to Yahoo News.

[Watch: 'SNL' skewers VP debate (VIDEO)]

Crowley is the first woman in 20 years to moderate a presidential debate. Last week, ABC News' Martha Raddatz was praised by critics for her moderation of the vice presidential debate. PBS' Jim Lehrer, who moderated the first presidential debate of 2012, was widely criticized for losing control and allowing both candidates--Romney in particular--to "steamroll" him.

Two days later, the commission defended Lehrer's performance in a statement on its website:

The format for the first and fourth presidential debates calls for six 15-minute segments on topics selected and announced in advance by the moderators. After the moderator asks a question, the candidates each have two minutes to answer. After their answers, the moderator's job is to facilitate a conversation on the topic for the balance of the 15 minutes before moving to the next topic. The Commission on Presidential Debates' goal in selecting this format was to have a serious discussion of the major domestic and foreign policy issues with minimal interference by the moderator or timing signals. Jim Lehrer implemented the format exactly as it was designed by the CPD and announced in July.

[Also read: High school girls who launched campaign for female debate moderator glad Lehrer went first]

The format for the third presidential debate, Oct. 22 in Boca Raton, Fla., will be identical to the first and will focus on foreign policy. CBS' Bob Schieffer will be the moderator.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/obama-romney-crowley-debate-160327851--election.html

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