Posted on 11/13/2011 1:05:54 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Have you ever had one of those 'uh-oh' moments where you hit "reply all" on an e-mail without intending to? I have. And, apparently, so have the people at CBS News, and they have some explaining to do.
The question at hand involves how many questions the candidates get during debates. There’s always plenty of grousing about that from the second and third tier candidates – Rick Santorum did it again last night in South Carolina – but Michele Bachmann now has a much more solid case to make in complaining on this score. It turns out that CBS inadvertently sent a memo to somebody on Bachmann’s staff which seems to indicate that they planned to keep her on the back bench.
Numerous candidates from Rep. Michele Bachmann to Rep. Ron Paul complained about unfair treatment from the network, arguing that rival campaigns had received far more attention during the debate. The Bachmann campaign went so far as to release an email that they said spokeswoman Alice Stewart had “inadvertently received” from CBS earlier in the day.
In the email string, CBS News’ political analyst John Dickerson said that Bachmann was “not going to get many questions during the debate and she’s nearly off the charts,” a reference to the Minnesota congresswoman’s low standing in the polls.
After the debate Stewart said that CBS News was guilty of “a bias” against Bachmann.
“I inadvertently received an email where CBS made it clear that Michele was going to receive fewer questions than the other candidates. Clearly this is a problem,” Stewart said. “The debates are an opportunity for the candidates to share their views on the issues. This is an important issue for Congresswoman Bachmann. She’s a member of the House, the Foreign Intelligence Committee. She knows this issue unlike the other candidates on this stage and the email chain that I inadvertently received clearly indicates a bias on CBS’ part to limit the questions to Congresswoman Bachmann.
Here’s the pertinent portion of the e-mail in question so you can judge for yourself.
“Okay let’s keep it loose though since she’s not going to get many questions and she’s nearly off the charts in the hopes that we can get someone else,” Dickerson replied, apparently unaware that Stewart was copied on the email.
CBS is in a tough position here. On the one hand, if we’re to be honest about this, it’s obvious that the networks want to try to focus the most attention on the frontrunners who are in the most competitive positions. That’s where the news is, after all. But if you’re going to invite everyone to the debate, logic dictates that the whole idea here is to offer a broad range of ideas for the voters to consider, so everyone should – in theory – get equal time. It’s a tough balancing act, but CBS got caught with their hand in the cookie jar on this one.
Frankly, we’re running the clock down here before Iowa and New Hampshire, and I’ve already been thinking it might be time for the debate hosts to begin paring down the field. But even that’s a challenge. It would be nice to have less than eight people on stage so they might be able to get more than one minute per question. But where do you make the cuts? To be fair, you’d have to include anyone with clear frontrunner numbers in the polls. (Romney and Cain.) Money also plays a big factor, like it or not, so Perry is still in the mix on that count and may still make a comeback, particularly given his excellent effort in South Carolina. Newt is showing steady momentum with his poll numbers moving in the right direction. Ron Paul, while never near the top, consistently polls at or near double digits, so it’s hard to drop him. But could they reasonably slash Huntsman, Santorum and Bachmann and still claim to be giving the voters all of the information they need?
Either way, if you’re going to put your thumb on the scale, you need to be honest about it. CBS took another black eye on this embarrassing “tear away the mask” moment.
... or a liberal female.
Agreed. She seems to have finally cut out the gaffes, and she's still right on the issues.
Yes
On what objective basis would you remove Paul who is leading Bachmann in each and every poll?
On what basis would you keep Perry? Paul leads him in many recent polls.
Ya know, I dunno. I watched but I ignore here so just didn’t notice. But there was clearly disparity. Terribly handled debate by CBS anyway. The whole thing was a joke.
Because Paul is a amiable dunce with exactly 0% chance of ever winning, even if he ran for another 30 years.
Wrong Paul?
LOL. Some of you Freepers are just too much.
In the context of the email, they are talking about an after-debate interview with Bachmann. They want to interview someone else besides Bachmann, because they want to shut her out.
Yes, I would imagine to the average PaulBot we would appear that way.
Ron Paul and his flaming antiwar spam monkeys can Kiss my Ass!!"
-- Jim Robinson, 09/30/07
TO expect a fair shake from them after all the damage they have done is Albert's conundrum.
They’re trying to make Mitt inevitable before any votes have been cast because they know he’s the easiest Republican for BO to beat, with the possible exception of Huntsman, who is not a real Presidential candidate.
Actually, I’ve watched this debate a few times now, and it swayed me—away from Newt. Trouble is, I’m fresh out of choices. They all suck.
MSM hates non left women and will do anything to stop them,any women come to mind?.
won't happen....these things cost the candidates nothing and they get tons of free publicity. That much face time, expressing your views, would be prohibitively expensive!!
Well, Perry squeaked in under my “system”.
Dancing the the Stars: The Final Four.
Don’t worry. This is just the semi finals. He’ll be eliminated next week! :-)
Well, Perry squeaked in under my “system”.
Dancing with the Stars: The Final Four.
Don’t worry. This is just the semi finals. He’ll be eliminated next week! :-)
The Republicans should get together and demand equal time for these debates.
They should even sign something. That way the Republican candidates, who don’t sign, would be exposed for their disinterest in fair play.
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