Vice Presidential Debate Moderator Martha Raddatz: Obama Attended Her Wedding

Martha Raddatz, the moderator of tomorrow night’s vice presidential debate between Paul Ryan and Joe Biden, may have a conflict of interest: President Obama was an invited guest to her 1991 wedding to Julius Genachowski, his friend and Harvard Law school classmate, now chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.  The couple later divorced.

The Daily Caller broke the story and reports that ABC has confirmed Obama’s attendance at the Raddatz nuptials. ABC claims that nearly the entire Harvard Law Review staff attended the wedding, but was apparently unable to provide The Daily Caller with proof that that was actually the case. Through a spokesman, ABC downplayed any bias and characterized the potential conflict of interest as “absurd.”

ABC provided Politico with the following statement which said, part:

“Martha Raddatz is known for her tough, fair reporting, which is why it was no surprise to her colleagues inside and outside ABC News that she was chosen by the Commission on Presidential Debates for this assignment.”

Martha Raddatz is currently the network’s Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent and has worked for the network since 1999. She regularly reports for World News with Diane Sawyer, Nightline, and other ABC news programs.

It’s generally acknowledged that the mainstream media is in the tank for the Obama re-election effort, and this apparent personal relationship underscores the perception of media bias and lack of objectivity. Do you think that Martha Raddatz should step down from moderating the vice presidential debate or is the fact that the president attended her 1991 wedding a non-issue and not disqualifying?

[photo credit: RubyGoes via photopin cc]