Moderator also in debate spotlight

As she prepares to moderate the one and only vice presidential debate Thursday night, Gwen Ifill -- or more precisely her objectivity -- is all the buzz on the blogoshpere.

Some conservative bloggers are accusing her of being "in the tank" for Democrat Barack Obama, and by extension his running mate Joe Biden, because she is working on a book about African-American politicians that features Obama.

The well-respected newswoman -- currently senior correspondent for "The NewsHour" on PBS and moderator/managing editor of "Washington Week" -- is dismissing the criticism. reportedly saying that she hasn't written the Obama chapter yet.

Ifill told the Washington Post that she started the book when it looked unlikely that Obama would win the Democratic nomination. "I still don't know if he'll be a good president. I'm still capable of looking at his pros and cons in a political sense."

"The book has been out there and discussed for months," PBS spokeswoman Anne Bell told the Post. "It's a non-issue."

UPDATE: John McCain's campaign has not directly complained about Ifill, and the candidate has not called for her to recuse herself.

"I think that Gwen Ifill is a professional, and I think she will do a totally objective job because she is a highly-respected professional," McCain said today on Fox News Channel. "Does this help that if she has written a book that's favorable to Senator Obama? Probably not. But I have confidence that Gwen Ifill will do a professional job."

The book, according to advance publicity by publisher Random House, is due in bookstores in January.

"In 'The Breakthrough,' veteran journalist Gwen Ifill surveys the American political landscape, shedding new light on the impact of Barack Obama’s stunning presidential campaign and introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power," the promotional blurb says on Random House's website.

"Ifill argues that the Black political structure formed during the Civil Rights movement is giving way to a generation of men and women who are the direct beneficiaries of the struggles of the 1960s. She offers incisive, detailed profiles of such prominent leaders as Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, and U.S. Congressman Artur Davis of Alabama, and also covers up-and-coming figures from across the nation. Drawing on interviews with power brokers like Senator Obama, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, and many others, as well as her own razor-sharp observations and analysis of such issues as generational conflict and the "black enough" conundrum, Ifill shows why this is a pivotal moment in American history.

'The Breakthrough' is a remarkable look at contemporary politics and an essential foundation for understanding the future of American democracy."

Ifill graduated in 1977 with a communications degree from Simmons College in Boston, where students will be gathering to watch the debate Thursday night at Washington University in St. Louis.

Ifill was chosen by the Commission on Presidential Debates, the bipartisan panel organizing the debates. She also moderated the 2004 vice presidential debate between John Edwards and Dick Cheney.