Unlike the rest of Sunday morning public affairs programming, CBS' Face the Nation has distinguished itself over the years by airing for just 30 minutes, compared to the hour-long programs on the other broadcast and cable news networks. Depending on how you feel about the amount of bloviating that goes on in the second half of these programs by the folks who define the term "pundit," that might not be a bad deal.
So host Bob Schieffer understandably was psyched when his bosses at CBS News announced in December that Face would go the hour route, giving him equitable face time with Chris Wallace, George Stephanopolos, Candy Crowley and David Gregory on Sunday morning television.
On April Fools Day, the new 60-minute edition of Face the Nation was broadcast — but not in the Tampa Bay market, where local affiliate WTSP at 11 a.m. switched over to a scintillating infomercial for Hoover's Extract Carpet Washer.
On the portion of the program that was broadcast in Tampa, Biden was asked about the hot mic that caught President Obama telling Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he'd have more flexibility after the November election, an exchange that conservatives have denounced.
This article appears in Mar 29 – Apr 4, 2012.