Aides to Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann say that an email received from a CBS News’ contributor offers “concrete evidence” of media bias against the Republican presidential candidate.
A post uploaded to Bachmann’s Facebook page after Saturday’s CBS News/National Journal debate appears to show John Dickerson, a well-respected political reporter for Slate who was recently named as the network’s new political director, stating the congresswoman would “not get many questions” and is “nearly off the charts.”
Dickerson’s email came as a reply to an earlier message to him and two other CBS employees asking if they would be interested in having Bachmann on a webshow after the debate concluded. According to the Facebook post, Dickerson said CBS “should keep it loose … in the hopes we can get someone else.”
Keith Nahigian, Bachmann’s campaign director, posted Dickerson’s email with a message from the campaign accusing CBS of bias.
“While Michele has been onstage at tonight’s debate demonstrating strong leadership on foreign policy and national security, we received concrete evidence confirming what every conservative already knows — the liberal mainstream media elites are manipulating the Republican debates by purposely suppressing our conservative message and limiting Michele’s questions,” the message stated. Nahigian then asked supporters “to show the liberal media elite that we won’t stand for this outrageous manipulation” by forwarding the post to friends.
Dickerson’s comment about how Bachmann is “nearly off the charts” appears to be a reference to her low standing in most recent national polls after a strong start last spring. RealClearPolitics currently has Bachmann averaging less than 4 percent support in recent surveys.
It has also been a common practice at this year’s presidential debates to ask fewer questions of candidates who do not have much support in national polls.
A recent SmartPolitics analysis found that former Massachusetts governor and front-runner for the nomination Mitt Romney has spoken for over 73 minutes in the last 5 debates, more than any other candidate. Texas Governor Rick Perry came in second in terms of speaking time at 54 minutes, followed by Bachmann at 41.