Over the weekend, Michael Bloomberg and ABC News invited Barack Obama and John McCain to debate each other in a 90-minute town hall showdown, which would be broadcast live in primetime from Federal Hall.

ABC's Good Morning America anchor Diane Sawyer—who did not get the opportunity to moderate a debate in the primaries—would host the town hall meeting.

Both campaigns have since indicated that they would be willing to participate in the event in New York City, but did not want ABC to solely control the broadcast.

The invitation marks the second time this year that a major media company has attempted to sponsor a debate without the blessing of the Commission on Presidential Debates—a non-partisan, D.C.-based organization, which has more or less maintained a monopoly on organizing general election debates for the past 20 years.  read more »

In the wake of comments she made about Barack Obama that have drawn criticism from both his campaign and the press (and then  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/ferraro-says-obama-campaign-spin-divisive#comments Politics Barack Obama Diane Sawyer Geraldine Ferraro Hillary Clinton Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:15:04 -0400 Katharine Jose 66396 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/36540 It’s just past 8 a.m.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/36540#comments ABC Inc. CBS Corporation Diane Sawyer Steve Friedman Sun, 14 Jan 2007 19:00:00 -0500 Jason Gay 36540 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/36195 On Oct.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/36195#comments Media ABC Inc. Charles Gibson Diane Sawyer NBC Universal Inc. Sun, 05 Nov 2006 19:00:00 -0500 Rebecca Dana 36195 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/52879 On Oct.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/52879#comments Media ABC Inc. Diane Sawyer Diane Sawyers Elizabeth Vargas Sun, 05 Nov 2006 19:00:00 -0500 Rebecca Dana 52879 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/51998 Don’t unplug that coffeepot just yet: Diane Sawyer isn’t angling to leave Good Morning America f  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/51998#comments Media ABC Inc. CBS Corporation Diane Sawyer Mike Wallace Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:00:00 -0500 Rebecca Dana 51998 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/38571 Don’t unplug that coffeepot just yet: Diane Sawyer isn’t angling to leave Good Morning A  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/38571#comments Media ABC Inc. CBS Corporation Diane Sawyer Mike Wallace Sun, 19 Mar 2006 19:00:00 -0500 Rebecca Dana 38571 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/38314 Here is everything we know about the future anchor of the CBS Evening News, as outlined on Jan.  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/38314#comments ABC Inc. CBS Corporation Diane Sawyer Sean McManus Sun, 29 Jan 2006 19:00:00 -0500 Rebecca Dana 38314 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/51699 Early this fall, Ben Sherwood, the executive producer of Good Morning America, gave every member of  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/51699#comments Media ABC Inc. Ben Sherwood Diane Sawyer NBC Universal Inc. Sun, 08 Jan 2006 19:00:00 -0500 Rebecca Dana 51699 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/node/38185 Early this fall, Ben Sherwood, the executive producer of Good Morning America, gave every member of  read more »]]> http://www.observer.com/node/38185#comments Media ABC Inc. Ben Sherwood Diane Sawyer NBC Universal Inc. Sun, 08 Jan 2006 19:00:00 -0500 Rebecca Dana 38185 at http://www.observer.com