{"id":20128,"date":"2015-11-11T15:22:00","date_gmt":"2015-11-11T21:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=20128"},"modified":"2015-11-11T16:39:39","modified_gmt":"2015-11-11T22:39:39","slug":"gop-debate-moderators-take-a-step-back-it-wasnt-about-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-moderators-take-a-step-back-it-wasnt-about-us\/","title":{"rendered":"GOP Debate: Moderators take a step back; ‘It wasn’t about us’"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Harry Huggins<\/strong> and Satvika Khera<\/strong><\/p>\n

MILWAUKEE \u2014 Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee proved a friendlier forum for both the candidates and moderators than CNBC\u2019s debate two weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The moderators, Fox Business Network hosts Maria Bartiromo and Neil Cavuto and Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker, mainly stayed out of the way of candidates vying for screen time.<\/p>\n

\u201cBusiness issues can be riveting, because it wasn\u2019t about us,\u201d Cavuto said as he closed the debate. \u201cIt was about them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The moderators demanded substantive answers for minimum wage and tax policy questions, but stepped back and allowed bickering between candidates when it came to issues like foreign policy.
\n<\/p>\n

Sharp bells chimed every time a candidate exceeded his or her allotment of 90 seconds to answer or 60 seconds to respond. The bells rang freely whenever Bartiromo, Cavuto and Baker allowed candidates to engage freely with each other.<\/p>\n

At one point, Donald Trump stepped in to moderate the discussion himself. When John Kasich tried to respond over Jeb Bush, Trump interrupted.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou should let Jeb speak,\u201d Trump said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThank you so much, Mr. Trump, for letting me speak,\u201d Bush responded. \u201cYou\u2019re an awful nice man.\u201d<\/p>\n

The night lacked the media bashing that dominated CNBC\u2019s debate. Almost every candidate complimented the moderators\u2019 questions. One exception was Ted Cruz, who argued the media would cover immigration differently if an increase of journalism degrees threatened to drive down media salaries. Even Cruz praised the moderators after the debate.<\/p>\n

The moderators\u2019 Laissez-faire style left candidates to fact check each other. While they jostled to get out their talking points, candidates tried to hold each other accountable, to the extent that any one party can hold itself accountable.<\/p>\n

After Trump referred to China as a part of the Trans Pacific Partnership, Rand Paul jumped in to correct him. Paul pointed out that China is not, in fact, a part of the partnership, and he seized the floor for himself.<\/p>\n

Cavuto pressed the candidates harder than his cohosts. He questioned Cruz\u2019s statement that he would not bail out big banks in a financial crisis because there would not be another crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t seriously guarantee that there won\u2019t be another financial crisis, can you?\u201d Cavuto asked.<\/p>\n

Even Ben Carson, whose personal history came under attack from the media this week, demurred to the moderators. Cavuto asked if Carson worried that his past would hurt his campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thankful for you not asking where I sit in the 10th grade\u201d Carson joked.<\/p>\n

Protestors picketed outside the Milwaukee Theater before the debate. Ebony Ellis held a sign that read, \u201cDon\u2019t Believe the Liberal Media.\u201d She said she hoped the moderators would be fair and ask questions that would help her decide on a candidate, not questions that \u201cdon\u2019t matter to me making an informed decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

PHOTO AT TOP: Moderators for the GOP debate, as seen on TV screen in the media area at Milwaukee Theater. (Raquel Zaldivar\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Harry Huggins and Satvika Khera MILWAUKEE \u2014 Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee proved a friendlier forum for both the candidates and moderators than CNBC\u2019s debate two weeks ago. The moderators, Fox Business Network hosts Maria Bartiromo and Neil Cavuto and Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Gerard Baker, mainly stayed out of the way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":179,"featured_media":20137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[321,509,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-election2015","category-fall-2015","category-public-affairs"],"yoast_head":"\nGOP Debate: Moderators take a step back; 'It wasn't about us' - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/gop-debate-moderators-take-a-step-back-it-wasnt-about-us\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GOP Debate: Moderators take a step back; 'It wasn't about us' - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Harry Huggins and Satvika Khera MILWAUKEE \u2014 Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee proved a friendlier forum for both the candidates and moderators than CNBC\u2019s debate two weeks ago. 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