I couldn’t make myself suffer through yet another silly debate, and it seems like that was a good decision. As Media Matters notes, “[n]umerous media figures have criticized George Stephanopoulos and Charles Gibson, moderators of the Democratic presidential debate on ABC, or the subject matter of the event, in part or in whole, as ‘shoddy [and] despicable,’ ‘specious and gossipy,’ ‘cringe-worthy,’ ‘banal,’ consisting of ‘tabloid trivia,’ ‘flat-out repulsive,’ ’embarrassing,’ ‘seem[ingly] slanted against [Sen. Barack] Obama,’ ‘shameful,’ and ‘an outrage.’” Reading the list of questions makes clear what a horrifying event it was.

The problem is the intersection of three factors:

1. The media’s commercial incentive to entertain rather than inform;
2. Journalists’ professional incentive to display voice, debate the horse race, and avoid “boring” policy issues;
3. Ongoing efforts by almost ever major figure in network news to avoid being accused of liberal bias (for example, Tim Russert going on Rush Limbaugh’s show, George Stephanopoulos going on Sean Hannity’s show, etc.).

#3 seems to be the most important factor explaining the difference in tone and content between the Republican and Democratic debates. Even Rush Limbaugh admitted yesterday that the questions were harsh.