I have fellow blogger Bob McCarty to thank for this, and it’s definitely something to share with my friends across the line in Delaware who get to see this guy on the ballot twice.
On Thursday, anchorwoman Barbara West of WFTV-TV in Orlando cornered Vice-Presidential nominee and Senator Joe Biden with some great questions regarding ACORN, “spread the wealth”, and Biden’s recent comments about a crisis to test Barack Obama should he be elected. The interview is about 5 minutes long and you can tell that it was all Biden could do to not storm off the set.
Needless to say, this was probably not the best career move for Barbara West, who actually looks like the “bubble-headed bleach blond” for which TV news is famous – those who run the network news outlets certainly won’t take kindly to someone disrespecting their chosen One’s chosen one. Nor would it surprise me if there weren’t a death threat or three in her e-mail from ardent Obama supporters. But you must admit West did her homework and wasn’t content to lob softball questions at a guy who could be a heartbeat away from the Presidency.
I tip my hat to Barbara for doing what the drive-by media should be doing for everyone, not just Republicans.
Crossposted (with the video) on monoblogue.
That's Elbert With An E 
I have to disagree with you about the interview. If she was truly trying to get some answers from him, she would have asked follow-up questions. Every time Biden rebutted her pointed questions (and he did so very effectively in my opinion), she had a completely blank look on her face and simply moved on to the next question. That’s not reporting or “doing your homework” — that’s simply reading words someone else wrote for you off a teleprompter. As a result, West didn’t look professional and Biden almost came off looking the better for it because unlike Couric with Palin, West didn’t point out her problems with what he was saying. Also, the questions were too partisan to be fair — I would have liked it better if she asked specifics about the progressive tax plan, rather than broadly compared it to Marxism, which most conservatives know isn’t really a valid comparison.
The nicest part of this interview was to see that Cheshire Cat grin slowly melt into a frown. Give him credit, other than that he was ever the unflappable buffoon, even when cherry-picking statistics to buttress his wealth confiscation agenda.
Sara wrote, the questions were too partisan to be fair. However, Republicans get questioned like this all the time. As ttownjotes wrote, West… wasn’t content to lob softball questions at a guy who could be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. If Biden can’t take stuff like this, then that is pretty sad. Good grief, they were legitimate questions.
West’s somewhat “robotic” questioning probably reflected some inexperience in interviewing major figures. I’ve noticed that sometimes on the “local” media. Quite honestly I would have been a bit nervous interviewing any of the four candidates. Regardless of her inexperience, if Biden’s positions can’t be defended in any arena of discussion (“friendly” or “unfriendly”), then maybe they aren’t good ideas.