Gage Skidmore
Which candidate was most shafted by the structure of the Fox News Republican presidential debate on Thursday night? That would be Sen. Rand Paul, who was given vastly less talking time than the rest of the candidates.
Paul received just under 5 minutes of talking time, the least of any of the 10 participants in the debate. According to NPR's Domenico Montanaro, the time totals were as follows:
1 Trump 10:30 2 Bush 8:33 3 Huck 6:32 4 Carsn/Crz 6:28 6 Kasch 6:25 7 Rubio 6:22 8 Chrste 6:03 9 Walkr 5:43 10 Paul 4:51
I thought Paul represented his libertarian views well during his short, testy argument with Chris Christie about NSA snooping. But it must be difficult for the libertarian-leaning senator to fully explain why his dissenting opinions are more intelligent, broadly popular, and in keeping with the Constitution than his opponents realize when he is only given a meager four minutes to make his case. There isn't much difference—policy-wise, at least—between Huckabee, Carson, Cruz, Rubio, and Walker; why give them all significantly more screen-time than Paul?
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