PBS anchor Gwen Ifill has revealed she did not disclose the book she was writing about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama to the presidential debate officials as she was being considered to moderate the vice presidential debate.
According to details buried in an Associated Press story published the day of the high-stakes debate “she did not tell the Commission on Presidential Debates about the book. The commission had no immediate comment when contacted by The Associated Press.”
Her 272-page tome, titled “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama,” is scheduled to be released next year on Inauguration Day when either GOP presidential candidate John McCain or Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is formally sworn in as president.
Her books sales will surely increase if that candidate is Obama, not McCain.
Information about the book has been publicly available since last July, but Ifill did not disclose the information to the debate commission or GOP presidential campaign officials. Her book became public knowledge when conservative outlets began openly questioning her objectivity Wednesday. Many of them complained Ifill cannot be objective because she has a financial interest in seeing Obama win the White House in November.
Ifill dismisses the criticism. “I’ve got a pretty long track record covering politics and news, so I’m not particularly worried that one-day blog chatter is going to destroy my reputation,” she told the Associated Press. “The proof is in the pudding. They can watch the debate tomorrow night and make their own decisions about whether or not I’ve done my job.”
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