Democrat strategist unveils plan for healthy debate on new Meet the Press

By now you’ve probably heard the news that Chuck Todd has been given the big chair at Meet the Press formerly held by David Gregory. The move was clearly designed to try to get them back in the game after the show’s ratings steadily decayed under the previous host. But it may take more than a fresh face, so perhaps some fine tuning of the programming formula will be needed as well.

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In case the producers are looking for suggestions, The Washington Monthly’s Ed Kilgore is ready with some suggestions. For starters, they should ban any guests he disagrees with.

If Turness is serious about this, we need to organize a grassroots campaign to ask that certain journalists be permanently banned from the panel of Meet the Press, or we’ll boycott the damn thing ab initio. I’d start with Peggy Noonan, Bill Kristol, David Gergen, David Brooks and George Will. Even at their best, they’ve all gotten more airtime than their shaky talents merit. But I’m sure you have dozens more who deserve the Meet Ban. Fire away in the comment thread.

Well, well… that’s just the definition of informing the public through free and open debate. I notice that Kilgore didn’t include Al Sharpton on the list. (I suppose his priceless insights were too valuable to give up.) Also missing from the ban list is Debbie Wasserman Schultz. We all know the fair, balanced and – above all – honest perspective she brings to any show she graces. Also not banned is Robert Gibbs. I mean, who could possibly be more unbiased and even handed in their analysis?

Ed Kilgore is pretty much on par with Steve Benen, who used to write in the same space on a regular basis. If you want to see what sort of fair and balanced coverage you’re getting, check out his resume.

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Ed Kilgore is the principal writer for the Washington Monthly’s Political Animal blog. He is also managing editor for The Democratic Strategist, a political analysis website; a special correspondent for The New Republic; and a senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute.

Kilgore was a federal-state liaison and speechwriter for three governors of Georgia, and also communications director and legislative counsel for U.S. Senator Sam Nunn. From 1995 until 2006, Kilgore worked for the Democratic Leadership Council and the Progressive Policy Institute, serving as DLC political director and policy director, and eventually vice president for Policy. He was also on the editorial board of New Democrat and Blueprint magazines, and was responsible for the DLC-sponsored New Donkey blog. He has served on the script and speechwriting staff of the last six Democratic National Conventions.

Fair enough, Ed.

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