CNN / YouTube debate: Questioner Ret. Brigadier General Keith Kerr is part of Hillary Clinton’s campaign
(Scroll for updates - it just hit the Drudge Report, so you know this is going to blow up big time.)
I just got done watching the CNN / YouTube debate between the Republicans, looking to see how much different it would be than the Democratic equivalent a few months ago. Frankly, I don’t really care much for the format, or for the production of the entire debate as a whole (Why doesn’t CNN “full-screen” the videos for us watching at home?), but this one was more lively.
What shocked me, however, was that in the post-debate analysis on CNN during the Anderson Cooper 360 show, one of the panelists mentioned he was receiving e-mails from people saying that questioner Ret. Brigadier General Keith Kerr is part of a Hillary Clinton steering committee.
Well, it’s true. Here’s a press release from Hillary Clinton’s Web site from June 27, 2007: Clinton Campaign Announces Launch Of LGBT Americans For Hillary Steering Committee (Google cached here)
Ret. Brigadier General Keith Kerr is one of nearly 70 members of Hillary Clinton’s steering committee to “work with the campaign on several areas including political outreach, communications, policy advice and counsel, and fundraising.”
Immediately after hearing the comment from the panelist about Kerr’s possible association with the Hillary Clinton campaign, Anderson Cooper quickly said that CNN had no knowledge of this and that if they had known, a disclosure should have been made. Later, at the end of his program, Cooper said this:
“We don’t know if [Kerr] is still on this. We are trying to find out more information. But certainly, if we had had that information, we would have acknowledged that in using his question — if we had used it at all.”
Given prior flaps with claims that CNN was trying to coax questioners to lob softballs about pearl vs. diamond necklaces for Hillary Clinton, this might not bode well for their ability to maintain an image of being able to host unbiased, fair and well-informed debates uninfluenced by outside forces.
The media needs to be asking three questions:
1.) To the Hillary Clinton campaign: Was Kerr a plant?
2.) To Kerr: Were you acting as a plant or independently?
3.) To CNN: Will you be fact-checking backgrounds of all question askers in future debates?
And the media itself needs to make sure that in future debates that this doesn’t happen again. It makes the industry appear irresponsible and unable to use a basic Google search.
It’s obvious how the spin’s going to go down in the Republican camp, but I’m hoping there’s going to be solid reporting on the facts surrounding this situation. CNN and the Clinton campaign have already received enough bad press over plants in debates, and this isn’t helping voter apathy in any sort of positive fashion. For now, I’m reserving my judgment until more facts come out, but it certainly seems that Cooper was caught off guard.
Kerr’s question was in reference to gays being allowed to openly serve in the military. Watch it for yourself:
UPDATES: Blogosphere explodes, Mainstream media picks up story, CNN responds
+ It’s headlining the Drudge Report right now: “BOOB TUBE: CNN DUPED BY HILLARY PLANT AT REPUBLICAN DEBATE”
+ The New York Times Caucus Blog has picked up the story:
But why did they let Brig. Gen. Keith H. Kerr, who came out as gay after his retirement, to rule the floor for an extensive speech? And why did they not tell the audience that he is a national co-chair of a veterans’ committee for Senator Hillary Clinton?
The right-wing/conservative/Republican blogosphere is exploding on this, big time:
+ Newsbusters: CNN Fails to Mention Retired Gay General’s Endorsement of Hillary
+ Stop the ACLU: Hillary Plant in Republican CNN YouTube Debate?
+ Here comes the storm: Drudge Report has linked to Townhall.com: Hillary plants question in Republican debate
+ FOX News Cameron’s Corner blog: CNN Slipup!!
+ You can see the blogosphere reaction with a Google Blogs Search and Technorati Search
+ HotAir makes a good point: Video: Debate questioner is affiliated with Hillary’s — and Kerry’s — campaigns
“Just identify the guy, CNN. His question’s perfectly fair.”
The mainstream media is starting to pick up on the story, although both tend to be a bit more “insider”:
+ Politico manages to find some new information and gets a new angle: ‘Gay question’ general linked to Clinton
Kerr told CNN that he had not done work for the Clinton campaign, and CNN verified before the debate that he had not contributed money to any candidate, the broadcaster said in a blog post after the debate.
+ Washington Times: Clinton plant infiltrates CNN debate
+ CNN has responded via their Political Ticker blog: General from GOP debate linked to Democratic campaign
CNN Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of the debate, David Bohrman, says, “We regret this, and apologize to the Republican candidates. We never would have used the General’s question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate.”
Prior to the debate, CNN had verified his military background and that he had not contributed any money to any presidential candidate.
Following the debate, Kerr told CNN that he’s done no work for the Clinton campaign. He says he is a member of the Log Cabin Republicans and was representing no one other than himself.
+ Here’s some more videos:
First, Kerr’s response to whether or not the candidates answered his question:
And here’s Anderson Cooper’s “mea culpa” at the end of his program:
Technorati Tags: Keith+Kerr, Hillary+Clinton, CNN, YouTube, campaign, president, election, politics, media, TV, cable, Republican, debate, Anderson+Cooper
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