The Shorenstein brunch is underway (thus far free wireless signals appear to be rather easy to come by in Denver...hooray the future). The brunch opened with a tribute to Tim Russert and Joan Shorenstein (the Center was established in her memory). Judy Woodruff is moderating the panel, which includes the current Rushmore of Sunday morning television faces: Tom Brokaw, Bob Schieffer, and George Stephanopoulos. The three are discussing "The Press and the Election." This is good stuff (and not just because the food and drinks are free), it's too bad someone hasn't thought to either televise this, or organize a similar event for television. Thus far Brokaw appears to fall on the side of "the media could have done a better job": "the coverage was robust, sprawling, but uneven." Shieffer says that the "coverage reflects the campaign" and generally it has "been very good, however, this time, there's just so much more of it." Stephanopolous is the most defensive of the three in terms of the job the press has done, he also notes that the current election season is "an entirely different process than the ones I worked on in '88, '92, and '96."

Brokaw also remarks on the fact the moderators of the upcoming presidential debates are all white men of a "certain age" (Brokaw, Shieffer, and Jim Leher).

I have suggested that we put up our social security records and have the candidates review them.