CNN's Candy Crowley moderated what could be seen as a very heated debate between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney.
Crowley, who serves as CNN's chief political correspondent and anchor for State of the Union, facilitated the second presidential debate which followed a town hall meeting format.
For the town hall format, Crowley did not initiate the questions like moderators do for other debates, instead it was undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization that asked the questions. Crowley did decide on which questions will be answered and provided follow up questions during the additional two minute discussion.
But what are others in the media saying about Crowley's performance?
According to The Washington Post's Paul Farhi, "True to her predictions, moderator Candy Crowley was an active, aggressive and prominent presence in Tuesday night's second presidential debate."
Farhi is referring to Crowley's statements that she intends to ask follow up questions if the candidates do not give direct responses to the questions being asked by the undecided voters.
He added, "The longtime CNN reporter and host pressed, poked and prodded President Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney when necessary, and occasionally played fact-checker and referee between the two men..."
The Associated Press reported, "Crowley was caught between trying to keep the candidates to time limits yet still being flexible enough not to cut off productive exchanges. The first debate moderator, PBS' Jim Lehrer, had received some criticism for not policing the debate. Online, Crowley was generally praised for her effort."
USA Today noted that some will think Crowley "over-asserted herself."
Adding, "Crowley's challenge, of course, was different than that faced by Jim Lehrer and Martha Raddatz at the first two debates. She was not just operating as a debate moderator; she was in charge of making the town hall format work. She let discussions go over time, but she refused to let them run on at the expense of the audience."
For John Hayward of Human Events, "The big story in media reactions to the second presidential debate was the moderator, CNN's Candy Crowley, walking back her headline-grabbing attempt to protect Obama from criticism over the Benghazi attack."
Hayward added that Crowley's "uncontrolled outburst...is not exactly the mark of a good debate moderator."
Crowley spoke to CNN shortly after the debate and spoke about the Libya fact-checking as well as other moments of the debate (see below).
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