"By agreeing to the selection of Gwen Ifill to moderate the vice presidential debate, despite her obvious conflict of interest regarding the presidential election, Republicans have shown why they are called 'the stupid party,'" Richard A. Viguerie, the Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, said.
"How could the negotiators have signed off on a liberal moderator who has a book coming out on Inauguration Day heralding the 'Age of Obama'?" Viguerie asked.
Ifill's book, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, is due to be published January 20, 2009, according to the book's page at Amazon.com. "Needless to say, the success of the book depends to a great extent on the outcome of the presidential election," Viguerie noted. "As Greta van Susteren, a lawyer, pointed out: 'In law, this would create a mistrial'."
"Imagine if one of the officials at Super Bowl earlier this year had had a book coming out on Super Bowl Sunday entitled Dynasty: The Age of the New England Patriots. Can you imagine the New York Giants agreeing to that? But then, the New York Giants are a lot smarter than Republicans."
Ifill's book was mentioned by name in a July 21 Associated Press article by Kinney Littlefield. The roster of debate moderators was revealed August 5.
"Democrats don't agree to debates on the Fox News Channel, where they might get tough questions," Viguerie pointed out. "They agree to debates only when they get the home field advantage - only when the questioners are people who see liberalism as objective reality and who consider the opinions of conservative, mainstream Americans to be backward and ill-informed. And they get away with it because the Republicans don't have the fortitude to do something about it." Editor Note: Breaking News An aide to Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain said the book "certainly raises eyebrows as to whether she will be able to maintain journalistic integrity."
Mr. McCain told Fox News that Miss Ifill is "a professional" and said he thought "she will do a completely objective job." Mrs. Palin said: "I'm not going to let it be a concern."
But conservative columnist Michelle Malkin wrote that Miss Ifill is "so far in the tank for the Democratic presidential candidate, her oxygen delivery line is running out."
Miss Ifill acknowledged Wednesday not telling the Commission on Presidential Debates, but dismissed the criticisms, saying she has "a pretty long track record covering politics and news," and is not worried by a day of blog chatter.
However, the book's release was publicized in a Washington Post profile of Miss Ifill, along with a July 23 Associated Press article published in hundreds of newspapers nationwide, including The Washington Times and Mr. McCain's hometown paper in Arizona.
Miss Ifill wrote an Aug. 21 article for Time outlining her upcoming book. That same day, the McCain and Obama campaigns released a joint statement saying they had agreed on terms and moderators for their three debates.
Richard A. Viguerie pioneered political direct mail and has been called "one of the creators of the modern conservative movement" (The Nation magazine), one of the "conservatives of the century" (The Washington Times), and one of 2008's "top 25 influencers" among Republicans (NewsMax magazine). His latest book is Conservatives Betrayed: How George W. Bush and Other Big-Government Republicans Hijacked the Conservative Cause (Bonus Books).
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