In the latest campaign conspiracy, Michele Bachmann thinks maybe she wasn't asked many questions at the last CBS presidential debate because she's a woman. CBS, for their part, thinks it's maybe because she's currently at four percent in the polls.
This scoop comes to us from the hard-hitting team of Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb. Bachmann stopped by Today to plug her new book, Core of Conviction, and was grilled about her dwindling poll numbers and lack of recent attention. When Bachmann's low quantity of debate questions came up, Kathie Lee asked if she felt she was getting shafted because she's a lady.
"Sometimes you wonder about that, and I have no way of knowing," Bachmann said. "There was an email that we released from the last media sponsor that showed that they deliberately chose to not give me time. I don't know if it's because I'm a woman, I have no idea. But we do know that they deliberately chose not to do it… It's unusual to have a woman candidate. We've never had a woman candidate on the Republican ticket running for president at this level before, and so I think it's time to let a woman speak."
The email she's referring to came from CBS News political director John Dickerson. When another CBS employee told him Bachmann's spokeswoman had volunteered her for his post-debate webcast, he responded, "Okay let's keep it loose since she's not going to get many questions and she's nearly off the charts in the hopes that we can get someone else." It seems Dickerson has not mastered the delicate art of reply vs. reply all, because Bachmann's spokeswoman was still on the email.
Dickerson's actions might (apparently) be sexist, but you know what's not? Pouring water for all your male peers before a debate.