The Loser Of Last Night’s Debate: Jim Lehrer

Did President Obama win the Presidential Debate last night? Did Mitt Romney? One thing is clear: The loser of last night’s debate was moderator Jim Lehrer.

Lehrer was the moderator of last night’s debate, but he didn’t do much moderating. The two candidates constantly talked over their allotted times, and, when Lehrer tried to interrupt and direct the debate, he was silenced by both Romney and Obama.

At one point, Obama said: “I had five seconds when you interrupted me so let me continue.”

And he did. For another minute.

Romney also bullied his way into extra speaking time. The GOP candidate even invented a new debate rule saying that he had the right to speak one more time since Obama started the segment. Lehrer grumbled and let Romney have his way.

Fox News reports that Lehrer, a well respected journalist who has hosted 12 presidential debates, failed to get the candidates to answer his questions. Romney, for instance, was asked if he would like to ask the president a direct question. Romney then spoke for three minutes (he had two minutes to speak) and never posed a question to Obama.

Lehrer also failed to give the candidates equal speaking time. Obama ended up speaking for about four minutes more than Romney throughout the entire debate. Obama and Romney gave Lehrer no respect during the Presidential Debate last night. The GOP candidate even told Lehrer that he was going to defund PBS.

But Lehrer wasn’t criticized by everyone. Some people praised him for letting the debate flow naturally and letting the candidates talk without constent interruptions.

Did you watch the debate last night? Do you think Jim Lehrer did a good job?