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| Candy Crowley takes heat from Republicans over Benghazi interjection | Candy Crowley takes heat from Republicans over Benghazi interjection |
| (7 days later) | |
| Candy Crowley, the moderator at Tuesday night's presidential debate, is coming under intense criticism from Romney supporters for the way she intervened in the rowdy dispute between the two presidential candidates over Libya. | Candy Crowley, the moderator at Tuesday night's presidential debate, is coming under intense criticism from Romney supporters for the way she intervened in the rowdy dispute between the two presidential candidates over Libya. |
| Conservative commentators responded with fury to what they believed was inappropriate meddling at a crucial moment in the town hall debate. The prominent rightwing pundit Charles Krauthammer accused Crowley of having "contaminated" the discussion by apparently incorrectly supporting Obama in his account of events over the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi in which the American ambassador died. | Conservative commentators responded with fury to what they believed was inappropriate meddling at a crucial moment in the town hall debate. The prominent rightwing pundit Charles Krauthammer accused Crowley of having "contaminated" the discussion by apparently incorrectly supporting Obama in his account of events over the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi in which the American ambassador died. |
| Michelle Malkin, a conservative blogger, tweeted that the moderator was wrong to have backed an "Obama lie" over Libya. The most lurid complaint came from John Nolte, writing on the rightist aggregation site Breitbart.com, who charged Crowley not only with jumping into the debate to take Obama's side but also of steering the entire debate in such a way as to make it "a total and complete setup to rehabilitate Barack Obama". | Michelle Malkin, a conservative blogger, tweeted that the moderator was wrong to have backed an "Obama lie" over Libya. The most lurid complaint came from John Nolte, writing on the rightist aggregation site Breitbart.com, who charged Crowley not only with jumping into the debate to take Obama's side but also of steering the entire debate in such a way as to make it "a total and complete setup to rehabilitate Barack Obama". |
| As the criticism of Crowley mounted, liberal commentators leapt to her defence, sending the hashtag #gocandy trending on Twitter. Hilary Rosen, a Democratic voice on Crowley's channel CNN, counter-punched that "Romney is trying to bully Candy Crowley. He looks rude." | As the criticism of Crowley mounted, liberal commentators leapt to her defence, sending the hashtag #gocandy trending on Twitter. Hilary Rosen, a Democratic voice on Crowley's channel CNN, counter-punched that "Romney is trying to bully Candy Crowley. He looks rude." |
| Bill Maher, comedian and acerbic TV host, lamented that the moderator was being pummelled by Romney and Obama. "Both of them are trying to roll over Candy Crowley. And that can't be easy." | Bill Maher, comedian and acerbic TV host, lamented that the moderator was being pummelled by Romney and Obama. "Both of them are trying to roll over Candy Crowley. And that can't be easy." |
| The spat over Benghazi came at a key stage in the presidential showdown. Obama, emboldened by his feisty performance thus far, and Romney, rising to the challenge, were by that point unrestrained in their attacks on one another. | The spat over Benghazi came at a key stage in the presidential showdown. Obama, emboldened by his feisty performance thus far, and Romney, rising to the challenge, were by that point unrestrained in their attacks on one another. |
| When the matter of the Benghazi assault came up, as Crowley said afterwards that she had expected it to, Romney launched into his by now familiar criticism of the Obama administration over the events in Libya. He said that it had misled the American people in the days after the attack by presenting it as a spontaneous eruption from a demonstration rather than a planned terrorist act. | When the matter of the Benghazi assault came up, as Crowley said afterwards that she had expected it to, Romney launched into his by now familiar criticism of the Obama administration over the events in Libya. He said that it had misled the American people in the days after the attack by presenting it as a spontaneous eruption from a demonstration rather than a planned terrorist act. |
| "It took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror," Romney claimed. | "It took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror," Romney claimed. |
| Obama riposted fiercely by saying that on 12 September, the day after the attack, he had addressed the nation from the Rose Garden of the White House. "I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people … that this was an act of terror." | Obama riposted fiercely by saying that on 12 September, the day after the attack, he had addressed the nation from the Rose Garden of the White House. "I stood in the Rose Garden and I told the American people … that this was an act of terror." |
| When Romney doubted his recollection of events, Obama said: "Get the transcript." | When Romney doubted his recollection of events, Obama said: "Get the transcript." |
| It was at that moment that Crowley stepped gamely – fatefully, some might say – into the ring. On the morning after the event she admitted that she had surprised herself by speaking out, saying it was the "natural thing that came out of me". | It was at that moment that Crowley stepped gamely – fatefully, some might say – into the ring. On the morning after the event she admitted that she had surprised herself by speaking out, saying it was the "natural thing that came out of me". |
| "He did in fact, sir. So let me – let me call it an act of terror …," she said. | "He did in fact, sir. So let me – let me call it an act of terror …," she said. |
| "Can you say that a little louder, Candy?" Obama chimed in. | "Can you say that a little louder, Candy?" Obama chimed in. |
| "He did call it an act of terror," she duly supplied, though, sensing perhaps that she had strayed into a very hostile place, she added that Romney was also correct in that the administration had taken two weeks or so to get the whole picture of the assault out. | "He did call it an act of terror," she duly supplied, though, sensing perhaps that she had strayed into a very hostile place, she added that Romney was also correct in that the administration had taken two weeks or so to get the whole picture of the assault out. |
| The truth of the matter, as is so often the case in these pressurised televised events, was more nuanced than either side suggested. Crowley did not, as conservatives are now chanting, make a naked error that displayed her political bias towards Obama. But nor did she get it entirely right. | The truth of the matter, as is so often the case in these pressurised televised events, was more nuanced than either side suggested. Crowley did not, as conservatives are now chanting, make a naked error that displayed her political bias towards Obama. But nor did she get it entirely right. |
| In his Rose Garden speech Obama did use the phrase "acts of terror", but he did so in the plural and within a general discourse on the threats facing the US rather than as a specific reference to Benghazi. | In his Rose Garden speech Obama did use the phrase "acts of terror", but he did so in the plural and within a general discourse on the threats facing the US rather than as a specific reference to Benghazi. |
| Having become the story, an uncomfortable place for any journalist, Crowley may console herself with the knowledge that presidential moderators are damned when they do, damned when they don't. The moderator of the first debate on 3 October, Jim Lehrer of PBS, was pounded for having been too passive – quite the opposite of the response to Crowley's perceived interventionism. | Having become the story, an uncomfortable place for any journalist, Crowley may console herself with the knowledge that presidential moderators are damned when they do, damned when they don't. The moderator of the first debate on 3 October, Jim Lehrer of PBS, was pounded for having been too passive – quite the opposite of the response to Crowley's perceived interventionism. |
| At one point Crowley alluded to the bind she was in. As both the candidates went at each other, fingers jabbing, ignoring her appeals to stay on question, she said: "I understand the stakes here. I understand both of you. But I will get run out of town if I don't allow… " | At one point Crowley alluded to the bind she was in. As both the candidates went at each other, fingers jabbing, ignoring her appeals to stay on question, she said: "I understand the stakes here. I understand both of you. But I will get run out of town if I don't allow… " |
| She never got to finish the sentence: the candidates had drowned her out. | She never got to finish the sentence: the candidates had drowned her out. |
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