Percent Debate Time By Candidate

[LinuxJedi]

I watched the NBC debate, and I had the sense that things were fishy in terms of the amount of time each candidate got to talk. So, this time I timed how long each candidate got to talk, and put together some percentages of time for you here. I did this as I watched the debate, so I don't pretend this is "scientific", but should be "about-right".

Here are the numbers from the Tea Party CNN debate:

Total candidate talking time (in seconds): 4041

Percent of time by candidate:

Perry: 21.3%
Cain: 8.2%
Bachmann: 12.7%
Gingrich: 10.8%
Huntsman: 11.3%
Paul: 9.6%
Santorum: 10.4%
Romney: 15.7%

Hope this helps... go forth and make pie charts. Also, I would suggest that we should put this "finding" to the news outlets and ask them to explain why candidates are not getting equal time, as Wolf promised?

I took timestamps of the time of each talk also, so if anyone wants to plot a sequence of when people got to talk vs others, I can provide that info too

 

[Brian4Liberty]

I'm surprised Bachmann got that much time. It seemed like they hardly asked her anything, especially in the first hour.

 

[BSU kid]

Wolf lied...not fair at all time wise.

 

[RonPaul101.com]

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[Sola_Fide]

Wow. The guy polling third had the second lowest time to speak? Horrible.

Actually, I think there were a few moments that Ron could have interrupted when he was being ignored. I like when he buts in like that.

 

[mczerone]

I'm not gonna go around and shout about equal time, what I'm more upset about is the questions posed. Someone asked about the FED, and Paul was ignored. Then someone asked, philosophically, how much of their income they should keep, and they let some tool go on about the Fair tax.

Then Paul gets asked about executive orders. Juicy. (though his answer was great and well received)

And beyond that, how many mentions do the candidates get in the "postgame" show where CNN tells you what to think about who won. These have to be 95% or more Romney on perry. Erick Erickson is the tool bent on marginalizing Paul this go around. David Frum must be busy.

 

[bolidew]

Paul really needs to "create" some rebuttals.

 

[Sola_Fide]

I'm not gonna go around and shout about equal time, what I'm more upset about is the questions posed. Someone asked about the FED, and Paul was ignored. Then someone asked, philosophically, how much of their income they should keep, and they let some tool go on about the Fair tax.

Then Paul gets asked about executive orders. Juicy. (though his answer was great and well received)

And beyond that, how many mentions do the candidates get in the "postgame" show where CNN tells you what to think about who won. These have to be 95% or more Romney on perry. Erick Erickson is the tool bent on marginalizing Paul this go around. David Frum must be busy.

Good points.

The only fair debate is a debate where every candidate gets asked the same question and has the same amount of time to respond to the same question. We haven't had a fair debate yet this year.

 

[LinuxJedi]

I had just wanted to measure the bias while I watched anyways, and I do agree that a proper debate is more important than anything... something Wolf also promised.

 

[TheTexan]

I'm surprised Bachmann got that much time. It seemed like they hardly asked her anything, especially in the first hour.

I'm not sure if you noticed this, but they called Bachmann a frontrunner when they introduced her in the debate, and the CNN poll only offered Perry, Romney and Bachmann as options (not even an "other" option).

They are starting to push Bachmann hard, even though Paul is polling better in nearly all national polls.

 

[Ronpauljones]

They are using the fact that theres 8 candidates to hide the fact that they are ignoring Ron.

 

[mikeycgto]

Here's a quick graph of the data.

 

[Dianne]

I'm surprised Bachmann got that much time. It seemed like they hardly asked her anything, especially in the first hour.

Bachmann bulldozed Blitzer... She was talking when not called on, and forcing attention upon herself. Paul needs to do the same thing. First........................mistake Paul made tonight, was he was excluded from the questioning about the Federal Reserve (which is a major strongsuit for him). When they asked him the question about sick peeps with no insurance, he should have responded to the Federal Reserve question. Paul needs to set the forum, not let those losers in the media set it for him. He should have said "sorry Wolf, but economics are my strong suit; and I can't let that question go by unanswered by me" .... I've been introducing legislation to audit the fed since _______...

Paul needs to control the media !! He has to stop believing there is fairness, or honesty in the media. I stopped believing that two years ago, and I was a late bloomer.

He's a great man, with a great message. I've been looking through the spin, and what I'm seeing are people yelling to "let the guy die" that has no medical insurance (which I believe was totally contrived by CNN to destroy Paul's democratic support).

F their questions.. He needs to know by now, the questions they ask him are not necessarily the questions he wants to answer..

 

[TheTexan]

Frothy mix of fecal matter and lube guy got more talking time...

 

[ProfNo]

Here's a quick graph of the data.

You should overlay this with the poll numbers. That shows how much this time distribution makes no sense.

 

[KramerDSP]

Good points.

The only fair debate is a debate where every candidate gets asked the same question and has the same amount of time to respond to the same question. We haven't had a fair debate yet this year.

Demint's forum came the closest by far. I think instead of podiums, there should be soundproof chambers, and every candidate comes out one-by-one to answer the same question with the same time limit.

 

[mikeycgto]

You should overlay this with the poll numbers. That shows how much this time distribution makes no sense.

Do you have any links to recent and accurate poll data? I have some cool ideas for some interactive charts with this data.

 

[mport1]

Demint's forum came the closest by far. I think instead of podiums, there should be soundproof chambers, and every candidate comes out one-by-one to answer the same question with the same time limit.

Agreed.

 

[Sola_Fide]

Demint's forum came the closest by far. I think instead of podiums, there should be soundproof chambers, and every candidate comes out one-by-one to answer the same question with the same time limit.

Yep, you're right. DeMint's forum was the fairer format.

 

[MJU1983]

Thanks, made a good Tweet!

http://twitter.com/#!/mju1983/status/113470592128270336