Jan. 19--David Brinkley was shadowing presidential hopeful Hubert Humphrey in West Virginia in 1960. So deeply embarrassed that crowds swarmed him rather than the candidate, the top-rated TV newsman came off the campaign trail so he wouldn't be such a distraction.
How quaint.
Fifty-six years later -- as candidates seek to distinguish themselves, explain their stances and emerge from the pack through a series of TV debates this protracted primary season -- grabbing some of the spotlight is far from a source of discomfort for broadcasters.
It seems to be a goal.
These days, if you're a media outlet sponsoring a debate, an objective seems to be to grab attention for yourself and your people, and squeeze whatever drama and ratings you can out of making the whole thing seem like a football game or the least sexy episode ever of "The Bachelor."
So as much as the NBC News-YouTube Democratic debate over the weekend was meant to be a showcase for Martin O'Malley, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton and their views, it was also to spotlight NBC News' Lester Holt, Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd, as well as some YouTube personalities.
Voters got Clinton congratulating a YouTuber on having 5 million followers.
Voters got a "halftime" break with Todd teasing "the commander-in-chief test" was coming up after the commercial breaks.
Voters got a debate that left a few minutes for talking-head talk about disagreements on guns, Wall Street reform, health care and foreign policy instead of more from the people actually running for office.
