Morning Glory: ABC News and its pass/fail test

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CNN "passed" its test in that came in the form of the first presidential date in June between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Opinions are divided on whether CNN passed or failed in its interview of Vice President Kamala Harris. (Having helped moderate five GOP presidential primary debates and being the only non-network individual in the debate prep rooms, the grade goes to the network involved, not the host. Debates and big interviews are collective efforts by the organizations hosting them.)

Tuesday ABC is carrying a heavy burden. To my knowledge, the network does not have on its payroll even one individual of significant stature as a host, contributor or executive who is a likely Trump voter. This means in a country that polling portrays as evenly divided between "blue" and "red," inputs from Trump supporters into the debate preparation process are almost certainly unlikely to occur and thus it is extremely unlikely for the debate to feature questions that such voters believe are relevant and indeed crucial to the choice before the country.

How could ABC get to high ground from which the questions vetted by its debate team and posed by hosts David Muir and Linsey Davis don’t result in a "Bud Lite"-level meltdown for its brand and the brands of its parent company Disney? The surest path is to lean heavily on Commander-in-Chief questions. Presidents don’t pass laws. They either sign what Congress sends them or veto such bills. Hypotheticals about whether a candidate would sign this or that hypothetical bill are just hobby horses for ideologues posing the queries.

A president does indisputably have control over America’s national security and the deployment