VP debate moderator Gwen Ifill: in the tank for Barack Obama? (didn't tell CPB, plays race card)

Unbeknownst to the McCain campaign (link), Gwen Ifill of PBS - host of Thursday's vice presidential debate - has a book due to be released Inauguration Day (link):

Gwen Ifill of the Public Broadcasting Service program "Washington Week" is promoting "The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama," in which she argues the "black political structure" of the civil rights movement is giving way to men and women who have benefited from the struggles over racial equality...

..."Her attitude was dismissive and the look on her face was one of disgust [after Sarah Palin's acceptance speech at the RNC convention]," [PBS viewer Brian Meyers] said. "Clearly, she was agitated by what most critics view as a well-delivered speech. It is quite obvious that Ms. Ifill supports Obama as she struggled to say anything redemptive about Gov. Palin's performance."

Related:
PBS "Engage" deletes comment critical of Gwen Ifill (they later put it back after I complained
PBS NewsHour's Soviet-style immigration coverage
PBS NewsHour: pro-illegal immigration, pro-amnesty bias

UPDATE: According to the AP (link), Ifill says she didn't tell the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPB) she was writing the book. Not only that, but - after noting a few sources that had mentioned the book - she plays the race card:

Ifill questions why people assume that her book will be favorable toward Obama... "Do you think they made the same assumptions about Lou Cannon (who is white) when he wrote his book about Reagan?" said Ifill, who is black. Asked if there were racial motives at play, she said, "I don't know what it is. I find it curious."

Now, that's sleazy.

See also newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2008/10/01/gwen-ifill-pro-obama-anti-palin for examples of her bias from 2004.

Politics · Wed, 10/01/2008 - 08:45 · · Importance: 1