June 4, 2007 5:17 AM

Monitor the Moderators

I don't think Wolf Blitzer did a great job moderating the Democratic debate last night. He consciously played up certain media narratives ("Let's put Obama, Clinton and Edwards next to each other so they can really fight it out," I imagine a media exec saying in the debate production meeting), asked lame hypotheticals, and allowed certain candidates to push their way into more responses.

Below is a cool chart (courtesy of the folks at the Dodd blog) that reaffirms what I felt: candidates were not given equal time. I personally think there is value in a moderator guiding the discussion, and sometimes that means certain candidates will speak more. But this graphic should encourage moderators to pause and ask whether they are just following a script their industry has laid out for them.