Moderators or manipulators? Blame CNN for the big debate debacle. 

Four people were on the CNN debate stage Thursday evening. Two have a chance to be elected president in November. The two others — the event’s moderators — apparently felt compelled to insert themselves into the limelight as well. 

That’s a major problem today for televised political debates: Journalists expect to be part of the show.  

Moderators are not content simply to raise topics and operate stopwatches. They love to show how enterprising and important they can be on the big political stage.