*Christine O'Donnell Must Prove She is Not a Witch in CNN Debate Tonight * *She claims she had her "first date" on a "satanic altar". * *I would really like for some Journalist to ask Christine O'Donnell if she has a significant other. I read somewhere that she "sold" a house to a "Boyfriend." Were they living in the house together? Is that type of unmarried living arrangement acceptable in her version of Christianity like it was to Sarah and Bristol Palin? The Tea Partiers want to be left to make their own life decisions while telling people how to live their lives.*
O'Donnell-Coons debate: An important night for CNN [image: xxx]Forget about "Parker Spitzer." It's dead, and the only question left is when the guys with the body bags come and take away. But if you want to do some useful ratings watching at CNN, check out the Nielsen numbers Thursday for Wednesday night's telecast of the Delaware Senate debate between Christine O'Donnell and Chris Coons co-moderated by Wolf Blitzer. CNN has several of these election-related nights with Blitzer, John King and Candy Crowley scheduled between now and Nov. 2, and they will offer a strong sense of whether or not the cable news network has lost even its audience for politics. With the prime-time schedule in meltdown, holding onto the politics franchise, the home court of CNN in 2008, is crucial right now. It would be something to build from -- and the Washington-based journalists who host the political shows are the cream of the network's domestic journalists. Here is what the political-night lineup from CNN looks like starting with the Delaware debate Wednesday night at the University of Delaware in Newark: *An hour of the debate will air on CNN at 7:30 p.m., and the full debate will replay at 11:00 p.m. Blitzer will anchor a special edition of The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer live from the campus on Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.. * *CNN’s American Morning will broadcast live from Delaware on Thursday, Oct. 14 with Kiran Chetry in Delaware, and John Roberts in New York. * *This latest debate builds upon previously announced debates by the network. In Florida, CNN will have a debate doubleheader, partnering with the St. Petersburg Times and the University of South Florida for two nationally-televised debates from USF’s Tampa campus. * *On Sunday, Oct. 24, chief political correspondent and anchor Candy Crowley will moderate a one-hour debate among Gov. Charlie Crist (who is seeking an independent bid), Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) and Marco Rubio (R). The debate will air live at 9 a.m. and replay at noon on CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley.* *The following evening, Monday, Oct. 25, chief national correspondent and anchor John King will take the stage to host a one-hour debate between Florida’s gubernatorial candidates, Rick Scott (R) and Alex Sink (D). The debate will begin at 7 p.m. and air live on a special edition of John King, USA. * I'm not saying CNN has to beat ratings juggernaut Fox News any more -- although in 2008, it sometimes did. But on such nights this month, CNN has to beat MSNBC and put a little bit of dent in Fox News to show it can still compete in at least this one important area. And Christine O'Donnell has nothing if not tune-in potential given her reluctance to talk to journalists since becoming the nominee for Joe Biden's former senate seat. Now, as the question posed at the start of when "Parker Spitzer" leaves this world, the show averaged only 465,000 viewers a night in its premiere week. That's down 24 percent from what Campbell Brown was doing last year, and we are in the middle of a red-hot midterm election with news and controversies bursting out all over this year. Given that fact, CNN would probably like to make "Parker Spitzer" disappear as fast as possible. But giving the reality of trying to save a little face and not beg analysts to use the word "debacle" to describe "Parker Spitzer," CNN management will probably wait until shortly before Piers Morgan debuts in early 2011 as Larry King's replacement to end its misery. The 8 p.m. timeslot is the gateway to the prime-time lineup, and you wouldn't try to show and sell a new house with a corpse lying in the front doorway. I wonder if any readers of this blog will be watching. I will, because I certainly want to see O'Donnell questioned by someone like Blitzer. It will also be interesting to see how CNN handles it if the Chilean miners story is still going strong Wednesday night. But thios is a tough call for me, because C-SPAN, which has been terrific in its midterm coverage, will also be carring the O'Donnell debate tonight at 7:30. After that, C-SPAN will follow with the last Califronia governors debate. Terrific effort being made by C-SPAN to serve democracy. More: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2010/10/odonnell_debate_important_nigh.html -- Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time. Have a great day, Tommy -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
