"Face the Nation" moderator Bob Schieffer, who signed off this weekend after more than two decades hosting the CBS Sunday morning show, told Fox News' Howard Kurtz that it's possible the media weren't skeptical enough of Barack Obama during his first presidential run in 2008.
When asked whether Obama was given an "incredibly easy ride" by the media, Schieffer at first noted that the president struck many people when he came out of nowhere and became a powerful political force in the 2008 campaign season.
"I think the whole political world was struck by this fellow who sort of came out of nowhere with this very unusual name, and when he won out in Iowa I think people sat up and kept notice," he said.
But Kurtz pushed harder on the question, asking whether journalists should have been more skeptical.
"Maybe we were not skeptical enough," Schieffer responded, before going on to place the bulk of the responsibility on Obama's opponents. "It was a campaign ... it is the role of the opponents to make the campaign. I think as journalists — what we do is watch the campaign and we report what the two sides are doing."
He continued, "I think it is the politicians who make the campaign."
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(H/T: Mediaite)
