Martha Raddatz On Debate Moderating: 'When I Hear Things, I Think, I've Got To Jump In There' (VIDEO)

The Huffington Post  |  By Jack Mirkinson Posted: 10/12/2012 7:59 am EDT Updated: 10/12/2012 8:55 am EDT

Martha Raddatz reflected on her widely praised vice presidential debate moderating performance on Friday's "Good Morning America."

Raddatz drew accolades for her sharp, aggressive questioning of Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. Speaking to George Stepanopoulos, she said that she hadn't intended to play such an active role.

"I was a little surprised that I got in as many followups," she said. "You try to listen, and you try to react to what they're saying. Sure, I had a lot of followups written, I had a lot of questions written. But when you're there and you're in the moment, you really have to go with what's happening. So when they were talking to each other, when they were going after each other, you do, you want to sort of step back from that. And yet, when I hear things, I think, I've got to jump in there, I've got to jump in."

Raddatz also said that the setup of the debate, which featured her, Biden and Ryan seated together at a table, changed the tone of the forum.

"That table is very intimate," she said. "That close to one another, and they're sort of going at each other and the laughter and some of the jabs at one another, it felt way more personal just because of that intimacy."

Both candidates, she said, praised her after the debate was through.

"They both said, 'you were tough, but good job,'" she said.

Vice Presidential Debate in pictures

US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R) participate in the vice presidential debate at the Norton Center at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, October 10, 2012, moderated by Martha Raddatz (C) of ABC News. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)

US-VOTE-2012-DEBATE

A combination picture of the vice presidential debate between US Vice President Joe Biden (L) and Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan (R) at the Norton Center at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, October 11, 2012, moderated by Martha Raddatz of ABC News. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)

Jill Biden, Beau Biden, Hunter Biden

Jill Biden, center, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, sits with her sons Beau Biden, left, and Hunter Biden, right, before the start of the vice presidential debate, at Centre College in Danville, Ky., Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Janna Ryan, Ted Olson, Lady Booth Olson, Betty Douglas

Janna Ryan, second from right, wife of Republican vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., his mother Betty Douglas, Ted Olson, second from left, former solicitor-general of the U.S. and his wife Lady Booth Olson sit in the audience before he start of the vice presidential debate, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, at Centre College in Danville, Ky. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

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Tommy Munoz (R), a stand-in for Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan, and Ben Boone (C), a stand-in for US Vice President Joe Biden, both students at Centre College, participate in a rehearsal for the vice presidential debate at the Norton Center at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, October 10, 2012. The two candidates will face off October 11 in the first and only vice presidential debate. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/GettyImages)

 Vice President Joe Biden and Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin gesture after the vice presidential debate at Centre College, Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012, in Danville, Ky. (AP Photo/Pool-Michael Reynolds)