Hotline After Dark -- Throw Dem Bows

Talk of the 4/16 Dem debate continued on TV last night. Most of the coverage focused on the performances of the moderators, ABC's Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, as well as the legitimacy of the questions posed to Barack Obama.

FNC's Kondrake: "I think that 45 minutes of questions about character probably was a little too much, because there was a lot of meat that they got out of the questions about Iraq and Iran and the capital gains tax. ... But those were perfectly legitimate questions that they were asking Obama. He is the frontrunner for the nomination to be president of the United States, and he is not a known quantity. ... Those are perfectly legitimate questions. And all of those reveal things about his character" ("Special Report," FNC, 4/17).

National Journal's Douglass: "If you are the candidate who feels aggrieved by how the moderators handled you, the one thing you cannot do is blame the press for the questions they ask. That never works as a tactic" ("NewsHour," PBS, 4/17).

NBC's Todd, on Obama taking a shot at the moderators in a 4/17 speech in NC: "I think it`s called
making lemonade out of lemons" ("Hardball," MSNBC, 4/17).

Dem strategist Peter Fenn: "I think the whole point is, don't complain too much. You go into it. ... He knows it's a tough game. He realizes it. I think he's going to give the elbows just like he does in basketball" ("Situation Room," CNN, 4/17).

More after the jump (KATHERINE LEHR).

Fenn: "45 minutes is quite a while to go without a substantive question. It beat the NBC News one, which I believe was about 33 minutes, without any substance" ("Situation Room," CNN, 4/17).

Huffington Post's Sekoff: "It was pathetic. I mean, I had a hard time knowing if we are looking at Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos or, you know, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. And, in fact, Stephanopoulos had got the talking points about Ayers and the Weather Underground from Sean Hannity on his radio show the day before" ("Verdict," MSNBC, 4/17).

CNN's Cafferty: "George Stephanopoulos, the former press secretary for President Clinton -- what kind of objectivity is ABC News showing having him moderate the debate?" ("Situation Room," 4/17).

Newt Gingrich: "If you're going to run for president, you have to expect that it's going to be scrutinized very, very intensely. You're asking people to loan you four years of the most powerful political
governmental job in the world, and every president we've ever had has had that kind of treatment, including George Washington. So I think it doesn't do very well to whine about it" ("Hannity & Colmes," FNC, 4/17).

Newsweek's Fineman, on Obama: "I think it's highly unlikely that he's going to do another [debate], because ... he's into the general election now. He doesn't need another workout session with Hillary Clinton. And I'm sure that's how he views it" ("Countdown," MSNBC, 4/17).