At CNN, a double standard for Dem, GOP debates

“That was my favorite moment from the debate,” Tapper said. “Let’s have as many of those as possible. So, yes, what the team and I have been doing is trying to craft questions that, in most cases, pit candidates against the other, specific candidates on the stage, on issues where they disagree, whether it’s policy or politics or leadership. Let’s actually have them discuss and debate.”

That was then. Now, another CNN anchor, Anderson Cooper, will be moderating a debate, this time among Democrats, and he says there will be none of that raucous “actual debating” this time around.

“I’m always uncomfortable with that notion of setting people up in order to kind of promote some sort of a faceoff,” Cooper told Stelter Sunday. “I think these are all serious people. This is a serious debate. They want to talk about the issues.”

Leave the slugfest to the Republicans. The Democratic debate will be a serious discussion of the issues.

Some coverage of the leadup to the debate has echoed that theme. The Democratic debate will be so high-minded, so adult, and so civil, that the party’s biggest worry could be whether the audience will fall asleep. “Americans will either find a pleasing contrast in Tuesday’s debate to the attack-filled show Republicans have put on — or they’re going to be bored senseless,” the Washington Post wrote on Tuesday in a teaser for a story headlined “Democrats see a more substantive, if sleepy, debate than rowdy GOP show.”

Cooper explained that the debate will simply reflect the Democratic race. “I don’t think this is a debate where you’ll have candidates attack each other; we’ve not seen this on the campaign trail,” he said Sunday. “Bernie Sanders has been very clear. He’s not going to go after Hillary Clinton by name. He’s not going to criticize her. And I see no reason that Hillary Clinton would do that with any of the candidates.”

What’s striking is that Sanders fills his stump speech with examples of contrasts between himself and Hillary Clinton. When Sanders talks about not being in the control of the big banks and corporations, about not having a super PAC, about not supporting big trade agreements, about not having voted to authorize the Iraq War — do you think he might be referring to anyone in particular?

“While Bernie has said that he respects and likes Secretary Clinton, he has contrasted their positions on specific issues,” Sanders spokesman Michael Briggs told me in an email exchange Sunday. “I expect the debate will present an opportunity to draw out some of those distinctions in their voting records, on the Iraq war for example.”

And more from Briggs: “Bernie also has discussed policy differences with Secretary Clinton. While he welcomed her new stand on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, he has spoken about their differences on trade policy, breaking up big banks, reinstating Glass-Steagall and other Wall Street reforms, closing loopholes that let profitable corporations avoid paying their fair share of taxes, and other economic issues.”

There are a lot of disagreements between Sanders and Clinton. And just because they haven’t attacked each other by name on the stump doesn’t mean they won’t behave differently standing side-by-side on a debate stage. And that’s not to mention the other candidates involved. Martin O’Malley, for one, is struggling to get a foothold in the race and will likely be more than happy to talk about his differences with other candidates.

So the Democratic race presents lots of opportunities for “actual debating,” whether the moderators see it or not.

* Note: I am a Fox News contributor but did not take part in any of the network’s debate preparation.