The headlines read that the wolf had become a lamb, referring to Wolf Blitzer, who softballed the debate.

After Hillary’s flopping over illegal immigrants and drivers licenses, how could he not make that an issue?

But he didn’t.  And Edwards and Obama laid down for her and let her steam roll.  I don’t get it.  She is on the ropes, and in politics, you dont back off and wait for the other person to catch their breath, you finish it…if you want to win.

Well now, beyond all that, the accusation comes that the final question CNN picked from the audience for Hillary was softballed as well:

“Diamonds v. Pearls” Student Blasts CNN

Maria Luisa, the UNLV student who asked Hillary Clinton whether she preferred “diamonds or pearls” at last night’s debate wrote on her MySpace page this morning that CNN forced her to ask the frilly question instead of a pre-approved query about the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

“Every single question asked during the debate by the audience had to be approved by CNN,” Luisa writes. “I was asked to submit questions including “lighthearted/fun” questions. I submitted more than five questions on issues important to me. I did a policy memo on Yucca Mountain a year ago and was the finalist for the Truman Scholarship. For sure, I thought I would get to ask the Yucca question that was APPROVED by CNN days in advance.”

Now, Luisa is getting “swamped” with critical e-mails.

So what happened?

Writes Luisa:

“CNN ran out of time and used me to “close” the debate with the pearls/diamonds question. Seconds later this girl comes up to me and says, “you gave our school a bad reputation.’ Well, I had to explain to her that every question from the audience was pre-planned and censored. That’s what the media does. See, the media chose what they wanted, not what the people or audience really wanted. That’s politics; that’s reality. So, if you want to read about real issues important to America–and the whole world, I suggest you pick up a copy of the Economist or the New York Times or some other independent source. If you want me to explain to you how the media works, I am more than happy to do so. But do not judge me or my integrity based on that question.”

CNN initially demured on the idea that they had picked it.  They implied she had just been asked to use another question then her perferred one, as that issue had already been addressed.

But, the truth is that they did indeed pick it:

CNN Spokesman Confirms Network Chose “Diamonds And Pearls” Question

Okay, we’ve got some more detail for you on the controversy surrounding CNN and the girl who asked Hillary whether she prefers “diamonds or pearls” at the close of last night’s debate.

Specifically, a CNN spokesperson confirmed to me that the network chose that question and asked her to ask it.

But in the network’s defense the spokesperson also says that the girl wasn’t “forced” to ask it. She submitted the question in advance — it was her question — and voluntarily agreed to ask it. CNN selected the question and asked her towards the close of the debate if she wanted to ask it. She said yes.

As you may have heard by now, the girl said on her MySpace page that she was forced to ask this question and that she would have preferred to ask one about Yucca Mountain. She said this in response to the storm of criticism and ridicule the question has since received.

And it looks like the girl is right: Though she did submit the question, CNN did select it and ask her to pose it.

Hillary’s rivals are accusing CNN of going soft on the frontrunner, and they’re pointing to this question, among other things, as proof of this.

Not just soft, how about sexist:

On the other hand, the network is confirming that it did in fact choose a question that quizzed the first credible female Presidential candidate on her taste in jewelry. That’s confessing to some pretty questionable taste.

I don’t expect to see NOW up in flames over how patronizing that is…

Flopping Aces looks at the bias question:

CNN hosted the Clinton debate…cough, I mean the Democrat debate, last night which was quite obviously stacked with Clinton fans judging by the huge amount of applause Hillary got after her answers, and the boos of any sort of criticism of her.

…

Last night proves how easily a network can spin a debate in one candidates favor.  They choose the questions to ask and if they want their favorite to have a easy time then they find diamond questions.  They fill the audience with fans of their favorite and ta-da!  A big partah for their pals, the Clintons.

Matt Lewis doesn’t want to accuse CNN of kowtowing to the Clintons:

Now, I’m not speculating that CNN helped “stack” the audience in her favor – that would be conspiratorial.  But CNN clearly broke protocol by allowing the audience members to applaud and boo.  Traditionally, a moderator will order the audience to keep quiet.  That did not occur last night.

In football, you’ve probably heard of “the 12th man.”  Well, last night, Hillary definitely had home field advantage.  I can’t think of another debate, ever, where the audience was allowed to take control of the debate to this extent.  By allowing this to occur, CNN was essentially helping guarantee a Hillary advantage.

So why was it allowed to occur?

But I will.  The most definitely stacked the audience in her favor.  

I have to wonder as well.  With her having had such a lousy week, this was definitely a boost.

My exit question:  Why are liberals so determined to put a person in the Oval Office who cannot manage to get there on her own based on her abilities, values and ideals?

All links via Memeorandum

 Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Stop the ACLU, The Virtuous Republic, Perri Nelson’s Website, Rosemary’s Thoughts, Right Truth, Stix Blog, The Populist, , The Pet Haven Blog, The Amboy Times, Adeline and Hazel, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, Pirate’s Cove, The Pink Flamingo, CommonSenseAmerica, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Church and State, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, A Blog For All, 123beta, guerrilla radio, Grizzly Groundswell, Big Dog’s Weblog, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao’s Blog, Conservative Cat, Nuke’s, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Faultline USA, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, CORSARI D’ITALIA, High Desert Wanderer, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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