Congressman Richard Hanna (R-NY) is fed up with the GOP.

Hanna singled out Michele Bachmann’s “suggestion that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin be investigated to see if she has ties to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood” as an example of a party that has gone off the rails.

The Syaracuse Post-Standard has the story:

“I have to say that I’m frustrated by how much we — I mean the Republican Party — are willing to give deferential treatment to our extremes in this moment in history,” he told The Post-Standard editorial board.

…“We render ourselves incapable of governing when all we do is take severe sides…” he said. “If all people do is go down there and join a team, and the team is invested in winning and you have something that looks very similar to the shirts and the skins, there’s not a lot of value there.”

…“I would say that the friends I have in the Democratic Party I find … much more congenial — a little less anger,” he said.

BuzzFeed reports that Hanna is not alone and “moderate members of the House GOP conference feel that Boehner, who has struggled with an often raucous and openly defiant right wing, has forced them to go along with conservative demands but has provided them little in return.”

This isn’t the first time that Hanna, who was first elected to Congress in 2010, has been critical of the Republican party. At at women’s rights rally in March he advised the crowd to “contribute your money to people who speak out on your behalf, because the other side — my side — has a lot of it.”

A woman has not moderated a Presidential debate in 20 years. In fact, only one woman — Carole Simpson of ABC– has filled that position since the Commission on Presidential Debates started hosting the events in 1988.

Three teenagers from New Jersey are looking to change that. Emma Axelrod, 16, Sammi Siegel, 15, and Elena Tsemberis, 16, started a petition to the commission that picks moderators asking them to consider a woman for the post. That quickly grew to over 117,000 signatures, and another petition, directly to the candidates, garnered another 53,000.

The girls are excited about their success, and now they’re taking the petition where it counts –right to the commission that decides on a moderator. ThinkProgress got a chance to speak with Emma, Sammi, and Elena while they were on their way to Washington to drop off their petition and sit down with the commission.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length

What led you guys to start this petition?
SAMMI: It kind of started off in school. It was mentioned to us that there hasn’t been a female debate moderator in 20 years and we just thought it was absolutely ridiculous and we decided to jump on the opportunity and bring this to the public’s attention and write a petition.

Why do you think it’s important to have a woman moderate the debate?
ELENA: I think just seeing a woman on the political stage in a position of power and prominence is important. There is a serious lack of women’s visibility in society and it’s teaching teenage girls to believe that they are not as capable and not as worthy or valuable or intelligent as men and it can be detrimental for many girls growing up in America.

EMMA: Twenty years is four years’ longer than I have been alive. The debates are very important in deciding who is going to be the future leader of America, one of the most powerful nations on earth, and the fact that half of our population has been missing for 20 years that’s longer than a coincidence, that’s a trend.

SAMMI: In a world where these girls and boys are watching as two men run for the highest position of power in our country, there needs to be a woman thrown in the mix to provide as a role model for people who are inspired to be in positions of power in the political realm. Watching a woman asking her own questions in her own voice is really important.

How has the response been from the people signing it?
ELENA: The responses online for the petition have been mixed. A majority are positive but when we appear in articles online, some people comment on them ‘oh women are meant to stay at home and make dinner, what are you guys doing?’ just very gender-stereotypical comments that are discouraging.

EMMA: A lot of people who are supportive of what we’re doing are calling into question why we are starting with something so small, the big problem is there’s never been a woman president. But, this is a very doable thing. And if we achieve our goal it could have a big impact.

It’s not too late to sign Emma, Elena, and Sammi’s petition here.

Journalists following the Romney campaign on the road have voiced some gripes with how they are being treated. They have been asked to submit quotes for approval, barred from asking questions on the rope line, and were temporarily barred from entering a fundraiser to which they’d been promised entry (after media outrage, the campaign reversed its decision).

Now, Fox News’ conservative host Greta Van Susteren has joined the chorus of journalists complaining about treatment from the Romney campaign. As she follows the campaign through Poland today, Van Susteren posted to her blog saying that the press has had no access to the candidate, and that she feels like she is in a petting zoo:

There has been no press access to Governor Romney since we landed in Poland. We (press) are in a holding pattern (I can’t help but feel a bit like the press is a modified petting zoo since we are trapped in a bus while Polish citizens take pictures of us.) Under the headline “Governor Romney won’t like this” we saw a big sign in the crowd for Rep Ron Paul.

The Romney campaign has granted some interviews to journalists, including Van Susteren herself. But he has been much more secretive than predecessors, including Obama who, when traveling abroad, held two press conferences, two appearances on Sunday talk shows, and several television and in-person interviews.