Hillary Clinton complained last night that she was being treated unfairly because she got asked the first question more often than Obama. Setting aside the issue of whether it's better or worse to go first, here's some numbers:
In the last ten Dem debates, Hillary has gotten the first question 6 times, Obama 4 times. But in four out of the last five debates, she's gotten the first question.
The NYT this morning went even further with the number obsession: In the last three debates, the only one-on-one confrontations with Obama, Hillary has gotten the first question every time. And, the Times says, in last week's debate she not only got the first question of the debate, she was asked to respond first to various questions "twice as often" as Obama.
So, she's right.
Unfortunately, the consensus seems to be that a complaint about the order of answering did not seem to be the most confident and presidential element of her performance, and using a reference to a Saturday Night Live skit to prove her point was a little unexpected. AP:
"...Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton resorted to a new tactic in Tuesday night's debate: self-pity.
" 'In the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time,' the New York senator said, sounding more like a put-upon third-grader than a presidential candidate."
Comments (1)
It is painfully obvious that the media is pro-Obama. This was very evident in last night's debate, or let's call it what it was, an attackfest on Sen. Clinton. Also, Obama was given more time to answer the questions than she. Sen Clinton was interrupted and rushed on many questions. What a shame! Sexism is alive and well!