Some take-aways from NBC’s Commander-in-Chief Forum.
* I still miss Tim Russert. Sorry, Matt Lauer, but his was not a job for the host of the Today Show. And it showed.
* No forum topic is more important than commander-in-chief/national security. Yet only an hour? That meant a net of 25 minutes apiece per candidate. If this had been a forum on, say, “Campaigning in a Social Media Culture,” that would have been appropriate, but not on the ultimate existential issue.
* If the idea is to help voters compare and contrast, why not ask each candidate the same questions? Nearly a third of Hillary Clinton’s time was spent on the email matter.
* And how the hell do you host a Commander-in-Chief Forum without delving into–or even referencing–NATO or nuclear policy?
* After this disappointing forum, it should be obvious to the Clinton campaign that its candidate can assume nothing about the role and effectiveness of the moderators in the upcoming debates. Even Jim Lehrer underscored that “fact-checking” is not “the function of the moderator.” The onus will be as never before on Clinton to hold Trump accountable for what he actually says and for what he manifestly doesn’t know. I still miss Tim Russert’s follow-ups.