Either Mitt Romney and the Republican party doesn’t get it about the media, or they’re just plain stupid. Monday, the moderators for the presidential debates were announced. PBS’s Jim Lehrer gets the first presidential debate on October 3rd in Denver, CO. Next up is CNN’s Candy Crowley in Hempstead, NY on October 22nd. Last and not least, CBS’s Bob Schieffer moderates the final debate on October 22nd in Boca Raton, FL. ABC’s Martha Raddatz moderates the one VP debate on October 11th in Danville, KY.

Leftists masquerading as even-handed, one and all. Virtually guaranteed to frame both the issues and the questions in the best possible light for Democrats in general, and Barack Obama and Joe Biden in particular. And of course the glaringly obvious question: why no Fox News?

It can’t be ratings related. Fox smokes both PBS and CNN. Furthermore, one would think ABC’s recent track record of media malfeasance, as in speculating that James Holmes, the alleged mass murderer in Aurora, CO, was a Tea Party member would put them on the radar of a Republican ticket that just picked a man with Tea Party convictions as its Vice Presidential candidate. What is the likelihood of Paul Ryan getting a fair shake from ABC’s Martha Raddatz?

The bet here is less than zero.

So what gives? Our crybaby president can run around saying Fox News isn’t a “real network” even as he rests assured that he won’t have to face any moderator that might, just might, ask him a question that makes him uncomfortable? Or is it even worse than that, as in the administration making it clear – on the QT, of course – that their standard-bearer wouldn’t appear in a debate moderated by someone who might force Obama to deviate from his script?

The fix is already in, with the media breathlessly excited about CNN’s Candy Crowley being the first female moderator of a presidential debate in 20 years. This is the same women who claimed on the air last Saturday that Mitt Romney’s choice of Paul Ryan “looks a little bit like some sort of ticket death wish.”

The only death wish going on here is Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan walking into a loaded game without so much as a peep of defiance. Perhaps they may have second thoughts when they hear the reports that CBS’s “60 Minutes” apparently edited their interview, leaving out the part when Ryan talked about his mother being on Medicaid and how his plan “preserves” benefits for her and other seniors.

But even if they have to remain above the fray, where is the rest of the Republican Party? Why are they settling for four lefties controlling the agenda in one of the most important elections in modern times? Don’t they remember the combination of vapidity and hostility demonstrated during the Republican presidential debates? Newt Gingrich was able to swat some of those questions down, much to the delight of the crowd. Do I have to tell Republicans that Mitt Romney is no Newt Gingrich, or that the stakes this time are far higher?

It’s not too late to change this dynamic. Either demand that a moderator from Fox News, or the Wall Street Journal be included in the mix, or tell the powers that be at ratings “giants” PBS or CNN that they can have their debate with Barack Obama – while Mitt Romney appears on Fox at the exact same time. Wanna bet on who gets the bigger audience?

Once again for terminally clueless Republicans: this presidential election, like every presidential election, is a two-against-one battle. It’s your party on one side, Democrats and the mainstream media on the other. It’s one thing not to get a fair shake and have to deal with it. It’s quite another to embrace it with open arms.

A lot of Americans were convinced that picking Paul Ryan to run for VP was a “bold” choice. It’s time to go bold against the MSM. Both Barack Obama and Joe Biden have gotten a pass for almost four years. It’s long past time that both of them be forced to answer something other than the endless array of softball questions the media typically asks them – when they both are being asked questions at all. And not just the one or two these moderators will ask just to prove they’re not biased.

The hell they’re not. Grow a spine, Republicans.