An interview of Joe Biden by an Orlando TV station anchor is starting to garner some national attention. Last week, WFTV anchor Barbara West grilled Biden via satallite over ACORN, "Joe the Plumber" and Karl Marx. She dove into Biden from the outset with a question about ACORN:
"Aren't you embarassed by the blantant atttempts to register phony voters by ACORN, an organization that Barack Obama has been tied to in the past?"
The remaining questions fit the same bill, seemingly scripted right out of a Sean Hannity playbook, but make your own determinations after watching the video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQXcImQfubM[/youtube]
Well, Biden became visibly angry about the line of questioning ("Are you joking?") and, after the interview was through, the Obama campaign cancelled a scheduled WFTV interview with Biden's wife, along with this message:
"This cancellation is non-negotiable, and further opportunities for your station to interview with this campaign are unlikely, at best for the duration of the remaining days until the election," wrote Laura K. McGinnis, Central Florida communications director for the Obama campaign.
So are the Bidens thin-skinned or was anchor Barbara West's conduct unprofessional?
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel's TV blog, WFTV news director Bob Jordan defended West saying: "Mr. Biden didn't like the questions. We choose not to ask softball questions ... I'm crying foul on this one."
Nothing wrong with grilling a VP candidate, but I'm calling foul, too. On WFTV.
Just watch this Oct. 14 interview West conducts with John McCain. She clearly threw McCain several softballs, including her first question, which incidently was about ACORN too:
"Senator McCain, why aren't you attacking Obama more forcefully for his leading role in voter fraud and for causing the US mortgage crisis?"
That's not even bringing up the Republican connections with her husband, Wade West, a political consultant whose work has ranged "from local elections, to more than 85 members of Congress and members of the President’s cabinet." He's also donated to Central Florida republicans and the National Republican Congressional Committee.
What do you think? Was Barbara West conducting a responsible, hard-hitting interview, or did she get word Fox News was hiring?
