Below is a comical look at the biased questioning of NBC debate moderators Lester Holt and Andrea Mitchell who asked presidential nominee Clinton easy questions while skewering presidential nominee Sanders and ignoring presidential nominee O'Malley. I went through a transcript of the debate and copied the questions asked of each candidate, so you can read for yourself the different types of questions asked of each candidate. The debate started with Sanders being questioned about changing his position on gun policy. They followed by asking Clinton if the lives of African-American men are not worth much in our society, which was not just an easy question but was one that would be well received by the Democratic base in South Carolina. Here is a quick break down of the questions asked of the candidates:
CLINTON: 7 softballs, 2 fastballs
SANDERS: 1 softball, 13 fastballs
O'MALLEY: 3 fastballs
- President Obama came to office determined to swing for the fences on health care reform. Voters want to know how you would define your presidency? How would you think big? So complete this sentence: in my first 100 days in office, my top three priorities will be -- fill in the blank.
- Senator Sanders, last week Secretary Clinton called you quote, "a pretty reliable vote for the gun lobby." Right before the debate you changed your position on immunity from lawsuits for gun manufacturers, can you tell us why?
- Senator [Sanders], but you didn't answer the question that you did change your position on immunity from gun manufacturers. So can you...
- HOLT: Secretary Clinton, would you like to respond to Senator Sanders.
- All right, Governor O'Malley, you signed tough gun control measures as governor of Maryland and there are a lot Democrats in the audience here in South Carolina who own guns. This conversation might be worrying many of them. They may be hearing, "you want to take my guns. What would you say to them?
- Secretary Clinton, this is a community that has suffered a lot of heartache in the last year. Of course, as you mentioned, the church shootings. We won't forget the video of Walter Scott being shot in the back while running from police. We understand that a jury will decide whether that police officer was justified, but it plays straight to the fears of many African American men that their lives are cheap. Is that perception, or in your view, is it reality?
- Just over a week ago the chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus endorsed Secretary Clinton, not you [Sanders]. He said that choosing her over you was not a hard decision. In fact, our polling shows she's beating you more than two to one among minority voters. How can you be the nominee if you don't have that support?
- Governor O'Malley, you've campaigned on your record as governor of Maryland, and before that, the mayor of Baltimore. Last year, of course, Baltimore was rocked by violent unrest in the wake of the death of Freddie Gray. And right from the start of your campaign, you've been dogged by those who blame your tough-on-crime, so-called zero tolerance policies as mayor for contributing to that unrest. What responsibility do you bear?
- Let's talk more about policing and the criminal justice system. Senator Sanders, a few times tonight we're going to hear from some of the most prominent voices on YouTube, starting with Franchesca Ramsey, who tackles racial stereotypes through her videos. Let's watch. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) FRANCHESCA RAMSEY: Hey, I'm Franchesca Ramsey. I believe there's a huge conflict of interest when local prosecutors investigate cases of police violence within their own communities.For example, last month, the officers involved in the case of 12- year-old Tamir Rice weren't indicted. How would your presidency ensure that incidents of police violence are investigated and prosecuted fairly?
Secretary Clinton, this question is for you. Tonight parts of America are in the grip of a deadly heroin epidemic, spanning race and class, hitting small towns and cities alike. It has become a major issue in this race. In a lot of places where you've been campaigning, despite an estimated trillion dollars spent, many say the war on drugs has failed. So what would you do? [Note, Holt did not ask her if President Obama’s drug policies have failed? Please Secretary Clinton, tell us how you will save us.]
- Secretary Clinton, Senator Sanders favors what he calls "Medicare for all." Now, you said that what he is proposing would tear up Obamacare and replace it. Secretary Clinton, is it fair to say to say that Bernie Sanders wants to kill Obamacare?
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/jgodfrey] Thanks for the photo Colleen S But let me ask you [senator Sanders] about Vermont. Because in Vermont -- you tried in the state of Vermont, and Vermont walked away from this kind of idea, of -- of Medicare for all, single-payer, because they concluded it would require major tax increases and by some estimates, it would double the budget. If you couldn't sell it in Vermont, Senator how can you sell it to the country? [Question here Andrea, which candidate presents the biggest challenge to your hubby, his buddies, and his past policies? Guess you won’t be asking any challenging questions about the repeal of Glass-Steagall, will ya’! Nay, you’re not biased; you’re a journalist, gosh darn it, and people like you!][okay, get ready, … here it comes] Secretary Clinton, in his final State of the Union address, President Obama said his biggest regret was his inability to bring the country together. If President Obama couldn't do it, how will you?
- Senator Sanders, let me continue, you call yourself a Democratic socialist... And throughout your career in politics, you've been critical of the Democratic party, you've been saying in a book you wrote, quote, "There wasn't a hell of a big difference between the two major parties." How would you will [sic] a general election...How will you win a general election labeling yourself a democratic socialist?
Secretary Clinton, our next question is for you. Here's another quantitative problem. [Uh, oh. Trouble here, a quantitative question. This could be difficult.] But Secretary Clinton, here's a question from YouTube. [Get ready, this is going to be a real tough one!] It's from a young video blogger who has over 5 million subscribers. He has a question about the importance of younger voters. FRANTA: Hi, I'm Connor Franta, I'm 23 and my audience is around the same age. Getting my generation to vote should be a priority for any presidential candidate. Now I know Senator Sanders is pretty popular among my peers, but what I want to know is, how are all of you planning on engaging us further in this election? [okay, but the next one is going to be real tough. Now don’t mess this one up. That’s it, keep your eye on the ball, here it comes, nice and easy. Okay, now SWING! Don’t forget to compliment the kid. That’s it! Go, baby, you’re the Front Runner. Look at you go!]
- A quick follow up -- a thirty second follow up. Why is Senator Sanders beating you to 2 to 1 among younger votes? [Hey, hold on! That’s a real question. How did that one slip in?]
Welcome back from Charleston. Let's turn now to the economy. Senator Sanders, you released a tough new ad last week in which without mentioning Secretary Clinton by name, you talk about two Democratic visions for regulating Wall Street. "One says it's OK to take millions from big banks and tell them what to do. My plan, break up the big banks, close the tax loopholes and make them pay their fair share." What do you see as the difference between what you would do about the banks and what Secretary Clinton would do? [Okay, here’s one for you, too. But don’t get used to it!]
Secretary Clinton, help the voter understand the daylight between the two of you here. [Don’t mess this up; I didn’t ask why the voters should believe you will hold Wall Street accountable even though you’ve taken hundreds of thousands of dollars from them.]
Smok Bazyli Senator Sanders -- Senator Sanders, you've talked a lot about things you want to do. You want free education for everyone, you want the Federal Minimum Wage raised to $15 an hour. You want to expand Social Security...benefits. You've been specific about what you want, but let's talk about how to pay for all this. You now said that you would raise taxes today, two hours or so ago, you said you would raise taxes to pay for your health care plan. You haven't been specific about how to pay for the other things...[Aw come on, Adrea throw me a bone, please! Thanks Smok Bazyli for the pic] Will you tell us tonight?- The most googled political issue...in the last month was taxes. Now, in your healthcare plan [senator Sanders], the plan you released tonight, you would not only raise taxes on the wealthy, but the details you released indicate you would raise taxes on the middle class also. Is that correct? [What did you expect? It’s Andrea Mitchell asking the question.]
- Senator Sanders, Americans love their SUVs, which spiked in sales last year as gas prices plummeted. How do you convince Americans that the problem of climate change is so urgent that they need to change their behavior? [Hmmm, why not ask Clinton why she focuses so much on ISIS rather than climate change? After all, you just showed a video explaining the problem of relying on fossil fuels that cause climate change. That would be a great lead to question why a candidate is less focused on climate change than other candidates. Wait, that might be too thoughtful of an approach for Main Stream Media; forget I suggested it.]
- Senator Sanders, the nuclear deal is now enforced. Iran is getting it's billions of dollars, several Americans who have been held are now going to be heading home. The president said today, "it's a good day. It's a good day for diplomacy. It's [sic, Is it] a time now to restore diplomatic relations for the first time since 1979 and actually re- opened a U.S. Embassy in Tehran."
- You mentioned Syria. Let me ask you about Syria, all of you. Let's turn to Syria and the civil war that has been raging there. Are there any circumstances in which you could see deploying significant numbers of ground forces in Syria, not just specials forces but significant ground forces to combat ISIS in a direct combat role? Let me start with you Secretary Clinton. [Hey,hey, a real one asked of Clinton. Well, sort of real. Democrats are against more intervention so everyone is going to hedge against sending U.S. soldiers. We’ll call this one fast-pitch softball]
- Senator Sanders, ground forces yes or no?
- I have a question. I have a question for Senator Sanders. Did the policies of the Obama administration, in which Secretary Clinton of course was a part, create a vacuum in Iraq and Syria that helped ISIS grow?
- Secretary Clinton, I want to talk to you about red lines, because former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a recent interview that President Obama's decision to stand down on planned missile strikes against Damascus after Assad had used chemical weapons hurt the president's credibility. Should the president have stuck to his red line once he drew it? [Good, tough question, and the follow-up is even tougher. Alright, Andrea, good job.]
- MITCHELL: But should he -- should he have stuck to his...CLINTON: Well -- but -- but...MITCHELL: ... line? Did it hurt U.S. credibility?
- Senator Sanders mentioned Russia a moment ago. Secretary Clinton, you famously handed Russia's foreign minister a reset button in 2009. Since then, Russia has annexed Crimea, fomented a war in Ukraine, provided weapons that downed an airliner and launched operations, as we just did discuss, to support Assad in Syria. As president, would you hand Vladimir Putin a reset button? [Lester, good question.]
- What's your relationship with him [Putin]?
- We to want turn right now to the issue of balancing national security concerns with the privacy rights of Americans. That brings us to YouTube and this question. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BROWNLEE: Hi, my name Marques Brownlee, and I've been making YouTube videos about electronics and gadgets for the past seven years. I think America's future success is tied to getting all kinds of tech right. Tech companies are responsible for the encryption technology to protect personal data, but the government wants a back door into that information. So do you think it's possible to find common ground? And where do you stand on privacy versus security? (END VIDEO CLIP) HOLT: So, Governor O'Malley. [Finally showing some love for O’Malley]
- You have all talked about what you would do fighting ISIS over there, but we've been hit in this country by home-grown terrorists, from Chattanooga to San Bernardino, the recent shooting of a police officer in Philadelphia. How are you going to fight the lone wolves here, Senator Sanders?
- But in terms of lone wolves, the threat, how would you do it?
- HOLT: Secretary Clinton?
- But -- but -- Secretary Clinton, you said that the leaders from the intelligence community went to Silicon Valley, they were flatly turned down. They got nowhere.
All right. Secretary Clinton this is the first time that a spouse of a former president could be elected president. You have said that President Clinton would advise you on economic issues, but be specific, if you can. Are you talking about a kitchen-table role on economics, or will he have a real policy role? [There you go, have a nice swing at that floater]
- [Now, let’s try to make Sanders look like a real jerk; here you go, no floater for you, Bernie] Senator Sanders, let me ask you a question. You called Bill Clinton's past transgressions, quote, "totally, totally, totally disgraceful and unacceptable." Senator, do you regret saying that?
- You didn't have to answer it that way, though. Why did you?
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