From the Fact Check Desk: Clinton’s Questions Question

Anyone remember the Hindenburg? Reminds me of Hilary’s campaign – not a pretty sight

I am still wondering aaout this issue. When Clinton was a front-runner she did not complain about this. Why now???? She was happy with the Media throughout. Because she is not longer a front-runner so the Media is against her. She is completely desperate in this nomination campaign. I think is time for her to conced.

A entire debate went on and this is the only news worthy item that a journalist can take from it? I was wondering what was going to be the silly talking points after last night debate but was telling myself maybe the media would focus on the issues but guess not……so sad

Ready on Day One? and not ready to take the first question?

Hillary has been whinning alot lately, very un-Presidential.. waaah waaah..I can’t have it my way….
But i’m supporting a Obama/Clinton 08 ticket… VP’s can whine and no one cares… see you in 2016 Hillary for President..
Obama ’08 YES WE DID!!

Nice work checking out Hillary’s claim. I was wondering if it was true or if she was just paranoid. The answer is both.

I don’t know if you really understood why Hillary was complaining about being asked the first question most of the time. These questions require thinking on your feet and providing response. She has been able to handle them well, but the issue is that the same question, when asked of Obama, he would always asnwer “Hillary is exactly right”. That has to be frustrating to HRC because all Obama does is copy her. This way people will think, they are not different from each other on policies.
What Obama seem to be doing is taking Hillary’s positions and adding the empty rhetoric of hope to it. That in its self is plagiarism.
The media need to take a deep breat and look at how badly Hillary has been treated in this election. It is not fair. It is not fair. It is not fair.
I believe history will see it that way too.

I think the issue is about to show who
is more competent. If Hillary answered
some tough questions first, and Obama
said he thought she was right, and had
more time to prepare his own, he was
not equally tested in front of the
national media. Everyone knows Hillary
is capable. We do not have to test that;-)

yeah, whaterver. shame on you the media and the public for portraying Obama as the king and Hillary as the shrew. As a woman I am totally turned off by how this campaign turned out to be. There has been so much gender discrimination nationwide in the media and how the public spoke about Hillary compared to how people spoke about Obama.
this makes me believe that America is still not ready for a woman president and shows how still women are viewed as shrews and not worthy.
I am totally turned off by how badly the media together with the public portrayed Hillary in the last few months. shame on you for not being fair and equal towards the genders. this happens all the time in daily life, women are viewed as shrews and mean, and unqualified, and men as capable and totally qualified to do the work. of course with the help of the media Obama is going to win. and who works in the media?? the majority of men work in the media and obviously they will write all these articles how they see the world and men aout there still see the world as men totally capable of doing the job and women as being as unfit and mean, and angry.

It is always after every debate someone has to say Hillary embarrassed them, Hillary could not answer this or that, Hillary was evasive and so on.
But can anyone be honest enough for just once and say that after Hillary gives he in depth answers to questions, we having Obama coming in saying I agree with Senator Clinton, or as Senator has said. This will show anyone that his man has not substance, he takes the easy way out listens to Hillary answers then agrees.
Some of you am sure notice that fact but you all so want to get rid of Hillary that you are willing to pretend that your candidate is this great debater.
Check every debate and see for yourself he has danced and waffled, hedged every debate answer waiting to build on Clinton’s response and he want to be President some of you really have to be joking indeed.

I thought Hillary meant she is always asked the first question when it comes to the beginning of the debate. Then I thought she meant it about NAFTA. Now I think she wanted to bring attention to the Saturday Night Live Skit. It worked! I had friends calling about where they could find the whole clip. It’s at the HuffingtonPost. Eeriely hilarious.

You’re right SJ. Did you notice his relief when she went ahead when asked about Russia? Even Obama knows Hillary KNOWS the answers to policy whether domestic or on foreign affairs. Hillary IS the smart one! It’s obvious…

I agree with the IAT from early in the stream. Obama is ahead, clearly, and has the momentum from all the recent victories. Clinton needs to “catch” Obama with a mistake and it’s really tough to do that if she has to answer a question first. If she answers logically/reasonably, why not agree and add small points to strengthen his angle. He keeps ahead, and may go further ahead. It’s a debate…He’s debating and winning. I would say the two of them should get an equal # of tough questions. Must be frustrating to be Clinton. She keeps throwing the punches, and he keeps rolling with them. Makes her seem less Presidential and he more so. Desperate times for her…desperate measures by her. If that ends up being the last debate, that was her last chance to take him down….and she couldn’t.

The WHOLE Democratic Nomination process this year is a farce. It is SO evident that it is media-biased toward obama, and that the underlying issue about Mrs. Clinton is about sexism: the fact that she is a woman; she could be the most intelligent and gifted candidate, and be another Mother Theresa, but since she is a woman, people don’t like that and will not choose a woman.
I could see by Mrs. Clinton’s expression on her face at the debate last night, that she recognizes this, too, and she realizes that she can do nothing about it. No one can—–even the American people. The media has got it’s mind made up who is going to win, and that is what they are reporting, polls and all. To heck with what the American voters want, & the fact that there are still states in this country that need to vote on who they want as the nominee. You people DON’T COUNT, says the media…..
Is this still America? I am starting to wonder what happened to real democracy. I will take my precious “vote” that the media believes doesn’t count, & will withhold it: I will not vote in the general election. I encourage all people who support Hillary Clinton—-the “women” vote and the “older vote”, according to the know-it-all media who dissect the poll numbers—-I encourage all of you to ALSO exert your voting privlidge and refuse to vote this year, as a boycott regarding how this election year has turned into a circus by the media and Hillary-haters, Democrat and Republican, alike. Who cares about uniting the Party? I sure don’t care anymore. I am fed up. Does anybody else feel the way I do?

It is a great irony that so many of the comments here disparage Sen. Obama for listening to Sen. Clinton’s response and then, if valid, agreeing with her. Is it not the responsibility of public officials to consider the positions of others? Would it be better for Sen. Obama to either regurgitate what Sen. Clinton has said, even if he agrees with her position, without explicitly stating that he does? Would it be better, even if he agreed with her remarks, for him to disagree for the benefit of contrast? Is this what being a leader is? The current political climate has been created specifically because President Bush has not listened to others and has shrouded himself with sycophants. It is a mark of a confident leader to listen and when appropriate, agree. That is how progess is achieved, by establishing common ground and moving forward. Contrast this with Sen. Clinton who manages to evade questions and does not seem able to find that common ground, perhaps because she is in a contentious campaign for the office of President of the United States. But so is Sen. Obama. Which is preferable?

to Is bush an ex-Presidnet YET???
I totally agree with you. This democrat primary is the biggest joke I ever seen.
Especially CNN, whose anchors and pundits expressed their love towards obama and their hate towards hillary blatantly, has sickened me this much that I will never watch CNN for anything.
There is no democracy as long as the media try so hard to manipulate the minds of people. This is no different from communist country, actually even worse as they describe themselves as “most trusted name in news”, what a shame.

LL, and the other farce is the claim: “the most knowledgable experts on the election”…..
Let’s all start a movement to boycott both obama as a nominee, and the big media…..please help me spread the word…..what comes around, goes around…..

In response to the post by “Is Bush an ex-President yet”… I don’t know if I will withhold my vote and I’m not 100% sure it was sexism, but there truly is an unfairness in the way Senator Clinton has been treated (with a few exceptions). Ironically, I think much of the media is prejudiced against her in the same way many people are, and while they’ll all go out of their way to avoid any seeming “prejudice” against Senator Obama, they think pre-judging Senator Clinton is just fine. If the media had been able to take a fresh, realistic look at her, we would all be better for it.

Sorry, but Hillary has lost at her own game. One year ago, I’m sure there was no doubt in her mind she would be the nominee. She’s cold, calculating, and will do anything to become president. Not only does she not understand healthcare, but she will push healthcare quality into the toilet. She commented last night about a mother who had $3 million in healhcare bills. John Edwards boo hooed about the insurance companies not paying for a dying womans liver transplant. Someone has to make these decisions about who gets the limited resources we have in healthcare. That someone is whoever is paying the bills. I ask you – would you rather a competitive free market system drive those decisions, or do you want the government deciding who gets what treatment. That’s mandatory healthcare per clinton.

I am also considering withholding my vote. But I will determine that according to the polls as the GE gets closer. I recommend not doing it if Obama is leading in the polls and you don’t want him to win. And don’t be afraid of McCain’s 100 years in Iraq stance. After all, Obama will re-invade Iraq after he withdraws the troops, if necessary. What’s the difference? We might as well ‘stay the course.’ Yuck!
Welcome to a rock and a hard place America!
I hope that women will now recognize the way the media, the movie industry has objectified them to the point of extinction in terms of their rights as human beings. I don’t expect young women to get it. They are in the height of their attractiveness to the opposite sex and this appeals to their vanity. But beyond a certain age they will be shell shocked and then they will know what it feels like when men do not value you on any other level than as aa sexual object. Instead of this being a victory for the AA community it has been a tremendous loss for women’s rights. Obama has not aligned himself with any issues. Especially not to any concerning the black community. I’m AA so trust me, I’ve been waiting to hear. I’ve also not heard him speak on women’s issues either. You Obamaton Hillary-haters are taking way too much for granted with this guy. And you are in for a shock. He wants to be President. He’ll be the first biracial president, just like Halle Berry was the first biracial actress to win an Academy Award for Best Leading Actress. What? His caucasian heritage should not count? Do you white people really accept that?
The media HAS been biased in so many other subtle ways. They don’t tell us exactly WHAT to think, but based on the stories they cover, they DO tell us WHAT to think about. This whole campaign they’ve told the masses to think about the incredible MOVEMENT of Barack Obama and what a new and fresh political candidate he was with fabulous original oratory and a new uplifting campaign. Didn’t matter that he was CLONED from the same political DNA as Deval Patrick. All we had to think about was how FRESH he was compared to Hillary. The media continuously harped on how DIVISIVE Hillary is. So people thought about that. They never reported on Obama’s background and readiness. They didn’t even show a video of him in 2004 saying that he needed more experience. They didn’t report how it was the Obama camp who first played the race card. Instead, they run a story a couple of days ago from Matt Drudge, who hates the Clintons, is a dyed-in-the-wool Republican and you would have thought that Drudge was Walter Cronkite. So we think about Hillary playing dirty politics, instead of questioning the validity of the source. But I don’t expect a nuanced-challenged Forest Gump American voting public to even get what’s important in all of this. There’s nothing more important to an American than having an UNINFORMED OPINION. Please don’t confuse people with too much information!
Thanks Jake Tapper! You’re doing a really splendid job!

Yet another attempt, no matter how minor, at self-victimization or self-targeting as a defenseless candidate manipulated by the Evil Mass Media Conglomerates. Although Sen. Clinton may feel she’s a victim or a target (and, based on many of the replies to your blog, that isn’t far from the truth), the facts just don’t bear that out. Many thanks for your fact-check, Jake!

Miss Direction
Glad to see someone else noticed the new voice of the clinton campaign. Boo hoo for me. Everybody is attacking me. Nobody likes me. Everybody likes him. Grow Up Hillary. If you can’t handle this, how can you handle the rigors of presidential office. Time will show that we’ll be much better without her.

I am an Obama supporter who thinks Clinton is a habitual liar. But I don’t appreciate Tapper trying to whitewash the unprofessionalism of television news’ handling of the debates.
When it comes to who was asked the first three questions of the night in the last two debates I think it was Clinton in all six instances. That gives Obama an advantage when tension is the greatest. If Mr. Tapper is going to overlook the outrageous behavior of Tim Russert, his overt bias, his braggadocio and his pomposity says to me that if commercial television can’t resist making the debates into entertainment then half of the debates need to be televised on PBS. Behavior like Mr. Russert’s requires a suspension by MSNBC rather than the support by Tapper’s silence on last night’s display.
Gwen Ifil would have contradicted Clinton’s mendacious remarks in her polite assertive manner. She not Russert should be the standard of television journalism.
Those who are disgusted with Washington as usual must be equally offended by commercial television’s devaluation of the electoral process. The importance of this is equal to the importance of electing Borack Obama.

Tim Russert is the best mediator I’ve seen in a debate (and boy have we had many). He forced both candidates to answer hard questions. I did not find him harder on clinton than obama. Just glad that we won’t have to endure another repeat of the same debate over and over.

God Bless America: Emotional self-control is not a sexist attack on Sen. Clinton as evidenced by the meltdown that destroyed Mr. Dean’s presidential run. The point here is, it does not matter if you believe it is a feminine quality, for in the end it is an emotional response, but one that does not belong, nor does well serve, as public servant, much less the President of the United States.

kris, you don’t fool us. We are not Obaba cult members and fool easy. Clinton supporters would not write her name in. we would vote for McCann instead.

Why is it now that media just began to mention Obama’s middle name “hussein” and his racist church, still mostly by fox news?
No one mentioned a word about Obama’s background until he is now mostly sure the nominee.
Did anyone investigated the picture Obama wearing turban? Who is the old guy in that picture?
Why is Rezko case scheduled on Mar 5th, right after Ohio Texas primaries?
American people have every right to know who their future president is and what he has done in the past BEFORE they vote for him.

LL: This concentration on Obama’s middle name is absurd, do people today somehow equate Muhammad Ali with terroism simply because he has a Muslim name? Remember, Sen. Obama had no choice in this matter, his father, a Kenyan gave him the name. Ali, on the other hand, chose his name, changing it from Cassius Clay Should Muhammad Ali be on the Department of State’s terror watch? As for the elder Somali in the photo it has been accepted by all sides that he is nothing more than a town elder who received Sen. Obama during his trip to Somalia. As a member of Congress our leaders meet with all sorts of individuals…this is neither a matter to be “investigated” or pursued for it typical in the course of public service.

It is obvious to everybody except the mindless unthinking Obama enthusiasts that the reason Hillary Clinton got the first questions was for Obama the clueless to copy her answers. Any person with any common sense and whose brain doesn’t shut down can see that all the debate ater debate has proved that Obama doesn’t have any clue what he’s talking about.Obama is a fraud. American people should be careful to put such an unsubstantial cheat in the White House.

Jake,
Even though, in my opinion, Hillary’s complaint is not a substantive issue, in all fairness to her, 23 to 18 represents almost 30% of the time. So, perhaps her feelings of frustration about this are plausible and not just the rantings of a disgruntled menopausal presidential candidate. She is seeing this in entirely negative terms because her support has so dramatically eroded. Perhaps if she were ahead, gaining momentum or at least slowing Obama’s momentum, she would see these ‘first-to-field-the- question’ situations as opportunities to set the tone, lead and shine, instead of indications of media bias or an injustice of some kind.
She’s losing something that is very important to her…the potential to lead this country as president. Whether I have a favorable or unfavorable view of her, her policies or her tactics, I do feel for her distress.

Isn’t Hillary still refusing to withhold her White House records and income tax statements? That would show both her “experience” and financial sources. Why doesn’t she want to share them with Americans?

Looks like the Clinton campaign is out in force trying to stop people from voting! Bill was busy in Texas asking people to vote twice!

Joseph: In defense of Fmr. President Clinton, in Texas 65% of the delegates are garnered during a first phase of voting and 35% during a subsequent “open window”. It is the only state in the nation, therefore, where voting twice is not only legal, but encouraged.

For all of you women who are joining the sexist crowd by throwing insults at Hillary not based on policy but on the fact that she is a woman will one day be sorry. You will be on the other end of it one day very soon because that is how karma works. You will wonder why things aren’t fair and why women don’t get more respect and you will realize you helped to make it happen. I also will write-in Hillary’s name if she doesn’t win the primary. I hope there are thousands of women who will quietly stand up and do the same.

Firefighter: Are you voting for Sen. Clinton just because she’s a woman?

Eleven22: What does that mean?

The sad thing about this entire democratic primary has been the media’s total biase against Senator Clinton. Americans are talking more about the media’s coverage of the primary rather than the issues we face. MSNBC, CNN, NBC are you
kidding- you don’t think your reporting is baised? Do you think all Americans are stupid? When I need the news from now on, I’ll tune into PBS and the BBC. I’m sick of listening to these bone-heads!!!

He was the man from the people, for the people.
He is the man that will redeem us from the loss of the war.
His movement is the organised will of the people.
People rise! and vote!
Don´t give for your community, sacrifice!
He is the young, fresh, charismatic man who challenged the status quo with great speeches and gained momentum by blaming the loss in WWI as the main cause of the economic crises and inflation.
All of the above are true slogans of 1923/1933 campaign posters from Germany.
Freaky….

Remember,
There’s always Ralph. If we don’t clean up our environmental act, sexism, racism, jobs and wars won’t mean much as New York sits in water up to its 13th story windows. 911 will look like a picnic.
I believe Hillary is on the right track to turn environmentalism into jobs and consequently help save us from self-destruction. I don’t know Obama’s plan for earth renewal.

Hillary insisted on having the debate and than complains about getting the first question. If it was such a hardship why didn’t she ask to establish debate rules beforehand. Does anyone remember what the first question was at any of these debates? There are more important issues than this question thing.
Before anybody knew who Barack Obama was, Hillary was the darling of the media. She has received a lot of free exposure the last two years. There is plenty of bias shown towards both candidates. Obviously many people like Barack Obama. There must be a reason and I do not think you can blame his rise or her fall on the media. The people who care; read, look, listen, and make up their own minds.

to those who plan to write in hillary’s name if obama gets the nomination – i hope you’ll consider voting republican instead. i’ve never voted republican before, and have been voting since mcgovern’s race. but i’m voting republican this year. writing in hillary’s name, or voting nader, is a good symbolic act, but actually voting for mccain is the only way to be sure obama doesn’t get elected. not only must obama lose votes, but mccain must get more than obama does. just my suggestion,,,,,,,

Some of you forget that the media was claiming that Obama would win some of the earlier primaries, when Hillary did, and it made the media look like idiots. The medias were the ones whinning, and the only way they can soothe their idiotic media coverage is to strike back at Hillary and her family. When Hillary complains about something, the media claims she’s whinning. I believe in the dictionary the words complain and whine, have two totally different meanings. But, if Obama complains, he has a right to do so, and its not whinning. I would call this double standard, ones a woman and the others a man.The buzzword for Obama’s campaign is “change”. He tosses it around without saying what this “change”is. Just like last nite’s debate…….how can one vote for a candidate that can’t tell the people what or how he will help America with this word “change”. Is this change going to be that Washington is to become the new Hollywood of America, since the media seems to think that he’s the new Rock Star.

Neither Hillary nor Obama can win in November. Many Obama supporters will not vote for Hillary if she is the nominee and likewise many Hillary supporters will not vote for Obama if he is the nominee. Passions seem to be very strong and will get stronger as this fiasco goes on. I hope the super delegates will reject both of these egotists and come up with a better qualified nominee with less baggage and can win in November.

My daudhter and her boyfriend are in college and are big Obama supporters. I asked them and some of their friends why are they supporting Obama. Their answer was because he is “COOL”. Not one of them knew what he stands for. Oh yes they also knew he stands for CHANGE. Just like Obama they were clueless what that means.

Why just tepidly denounce the anti-semitic remarks? Why not the racist and gay bashing stances? This was a time to truly show leadership in race relations and he FAILED. He should have been adament that I don’t approve of any of Farrakan’s positions. Farrakan is the equivalent of the Grand Dragon of the KKK. Would Obama not staunchly oppose the Grand Dragon’s endorsement?

rlwainright:
>>Ummm, no. 23+18 = 41. The difference between them was 5 questions. 5/41 = 12.2% – nowhere near 30%.
Hey thanks for the math lesson. You correctly point out the difference is insignificant to cause such a stir (sorry, basic math skills have always been just beyond my grasp!)
My larger point was that Hillary’s interpretation of these situations is colored by her (apparent) eroding status in the race. Her campaign seems to be in a bit of a mess; who knows, maybe even quicksand. So, her distress is understandable, whether or not you like or support her political candidacy, and whether her complaint is based in objective or even significant facts.

Satish, How about some reasons *YOU* are supporting Clinton??? It is kind of hard to believe that College Educated kids haven’t bothered to do a little research…..
Honesty and Forthrightness?
Tax Returns..Hillary, NO Obama, YES
Hillary has a long history of refusing to turn over SUBPOENAED RECORDS.
Obama has no such problem. Since a Candidate can be disqualified based on those records, they should be mandatory BEFORE even becoming a candidate.
Refused to acknowledge during NINETEEN Debates that she had made a mistake in voting for the Iraq war. Effectively took back the acknowledgement she FINALLY made in her 20th dabate, within minutes of making it, by saying she “was against this war from the beginning.” ??????
Obama has made very, very, clear his opposition to this war from the very beginning, even when it was Politically Incorrect to do so.
Not to mention that the Co-Presidency of the Clintons accomplished the MOST Military Actions in History. 30 plus.
At one point, they used up all of the Strategic Missile Stockpile of the United States, aiding Kosovo into becoming the Heroin Capital of the world. (Afganistan now holds that title)
It is bad enough that the Clinton Supporters know nothing of HER History, but turning a blind eye to her making a disaster of her own campaign, thinking she should win an election on pity, her emotional instability to the point of embarassment, and her inability to understand that there are many Americans who either know or can esily check up on her lies, were what did her in.
The press reports the facts. (Tell me one thing they have said about her that wasn’t true) She is responsible for those facts. If she can’t take the heat, her best bet is to get out of the kitchen.
In fact, the Press could write a book on the scandals of this woman. I think they are far too easy on her.

What’s the difference who gets the first question? Is she just upset that being asked first, she doesn’t have as much time to formulate a convincing lie?

If Hillary can manage to pull off at least TX and/or OH and RI on March 4th, then her campaign will get a big boost. If this were to happen I’d love for them to schedule another debate before the PA primary which isn’t until April 22nd. But this time, Hillary should only agree to a debate if they can be in sound proof booths next to each other. That way, she can answer all the questions first and not have to worry about him copying her answers because he won’t be able to hear them. Only the moderators and the audience will. I bet we would all notice a big difference in his performance.

Well I went and saw Bill Clinton speak tonight in Ohio and if everyone went to see him speak in person you might get a a more honest portrayal of his campaigning for her. He was awesome. He is one powerful speaker folks. I think if they played his entire speeches on television people might get a more accurate picture then what the media likes to portray to you. This was a man who was up there being as genuine as he could be. He actually was quite believable and said many many things that made a whole lot of sense. I think everyone should go see Bill Clinton speak at a rally. I think if they portrayed Bill the way they should be portraying a former president campaigning for his wife then everyone would be voting for Hillary. This man knows what the hell he is talking about, flat out. Go see him if he comes to your town, you’ll see.

Anti-Vaccination Shills Score A Big One; Rare Outburst of Rationality at the Huffington Post

Jake Tapper has this to say about John McCain’s position on the relationship between autism and thimerasol: At a town hall meeting Friday [February 28, 2008] in Texas, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., declared that “there’s strong evidence” that thimerosal, a