I’m happy to say that as someone who has moderated a Hillary Clinton debate before, I made The Washington Post two days in a row.
In this article from yesterday, I talked about an issue that no one wants to put in public – the issue of the race of the moderator (and believe me, this issue is very much present). And in this article from this past Saturday, I talked about another sensitive issue – gender (more specifically, how I felt gender played a role in the way I moderated Hillary Clinton’s debate ten years ago). These are important topics, and I’m pleased that they are being discussed before Lester Holt steps in to moderate his first presidential debate tonight.
And as someone who has walked in Lester’s shoes, man, do I feel for him. Just like I did prior to the debate I moderated, he has removed himself and pulled back from everything, and tonight, it’s time to “bring it.” I can remember the experience of moderating so clearly – as producers said :30 seconds to the beginning in my ear, and knowing that I would be in front of an international audience when the cameras came on, all I could do was think about my grandmother, my son who had just had a seizure and was in the hospital, and the people of the Bronx. So, as someone who has been there before: good luck, Lester, and I’m rooting for you, man.
~Tune into your favorite news channel tonight at 9pm EST to watch the first presidential debate live, and make sure to check my Twitter page here and my Facebook page here to read my thoughts on it afterwards.