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CPD: Crowley shouldn't reinterpret questions

The Commission on Presidential Debates does not want Candy Crowley, the debate moderator, to reinterpret audience members' questions -- a small but important point in this ongoing debate over what role the moderator is meant to play in the townhall-format debate.

"Our only issue is that the citizen questioners get their chance to pose the question without reinterpretation from the moderator," CPD co-chairman Mike McCurry tells TechPresident's Micah Sifry today.

(Also on POLITICO: Crowley: 'I'm not a fly on the wall')

That hardly provides clarity. In one interview with CNN, Crowley said, “Once the table is kind of set by the town hall questioner, there is then time for me to say, ‘Hey, wait a second, what about x, y, z?’." In another, "If the town hall person asks about apples, and they answer oranges, I get to say, ‘Wait a second, the question was about apples — let’s talk about that.'"

Is that reinterpretation? Or is that merely facilitating the conversation? Fine line.

But it hardly matters. No one will be policing her. Once Crowley has the mic, it's up to her.

(Also on POLITICO: Carole Simpson slams debate commission)