Gwen Ifill, VP Debate Moderator, Is Having A Bad Week

By Marcus Gilmer on Oct 1, 2008 9:30PM

Poor Gwen Ifill. The PBS newswoman, scheduled to moderate tomorrow night's Vice Presidential debate, tripped and fell in her Washington home earlier this week,a stumble that resulted in a broken ankle. Ouch. Despite the injury, Ifill has been give the go-ahead by her doctors to fly to St. Louis where Thursday's debate will be held.

Well, at least we think she's going to moderate the debate. There's a new wrinkle in the form of an Obama-centric book that Ifill has authored. The book, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama, is slated for release on Inauguration Day (getting ahead of ourselves, are we?). Because of the book, conservatives are arguing this negates Ifill's objectivity and makes her unfit to moderate the debate. While there is a valid point here, we tend to agree with the Trib's Frank James who points out, "Ifill is going to be under the microscope. Every question she asks and the way she asks them will be apparent for all to see. If she appears to be favoring Obama, we'll see it and she knows that."

This isn't the first time Ifill has drawn conservative ire; she drew criticism for her "dismissive" attitude during coverage of the GOP convention in September, including the below video.