CNN Teaparty Debate 9/12/2011 Statistics

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Once again it was the Rick Perry & Mitt Romney show. Hogging up nearly 14 minutes and nearly 11 minutes respectively, the nearest talking time was Congresswoman Michele Bachmann with 8:35. Largely due to so many attacks on him, CNN gave no shortage of time to Rick Perry for response, and in many cases CNN actually initiated the back 'n forth. The case will probably be made that this was for the sake of continuing story-lines currently in the news cycle, but it is quite odd that in continuing news cycles that when the Federal Reserve is brought up for discussion that Santorum, Cain, Bachmann, Perry and Romney were all questioned, leaving out the one person in politics who is actually responsible for bringing the Federal Reserve out of the closet of secrecy: Ron Paul.

Oddly, the feedback loop continues since the talk time was given to the perceived frontrunners which will likely result in showing their highlights and discussing how they dominated the debate while everyone else was strangely absent. Perhaps it is time for a more forum-oriented national discussion, maybe half in actual forum with extended time-allotments and the other half in direct debates. I, for one, would love an entire debate where the candidates moderate. Can't be worse than this.

Here are the statistics:
Talking Time (mm:ss):

Perry	13:54
Romney	10:56
Ron Paul	07:34
Bachmann	08:35
Newt	07:32
Cain	05:42
Santorum	07:06
Huntsman	07:50
Total	1:09:09

*Note: This is uninterrupted talking time, except for audience cheer/applause in the middle of a response as this goes against their official response time. Does not include moderators' time for questions/interactions.

% of Total Talking Time:

Perry	20.10%
Romney	15.81%
Ron Paul	10.94%
Bachmann	12.41%
Newt	10.89%
Cain	8.24%
Santorum	10.27%
Huntsman	11.33%

# Turns Talking:

Perry	18
Romney	10
Ron Paul	7
Bachmann	8
Newt	5
Cain	6
Santorum	7
Huntsman	7

*Note: Does not include introductory & closing statement as these were all-included. Only responses longer than 10+ seconds.

Avg Time Between Turns:

Perry	02:37
Romney	04:40
Ron Paul	07:19
Bachmann	06:29
Newt	09:44
Cain	08:45
Santorum	06:30
Huntsman	07:19

As for platform time, Cain was robbed with only speaking 5 minutes and 42 seconds; Newt didn't get to address too many topics. Speaking of which...

Topics / Discussion Time:

Opening Comments	02:15
Social Security	10:21
Budget / Debt	05:23
Economy	12:53
Federal Reserve	04:27
Taxes	04:11
Executive Orders	05:23
Healthcare / Insurance	06:57
Immigration	08:22
Energy Independence	00:52
Defense Spending	02:39
Foreign Policy	03:46
Personal Question	01:40

The economy and Social Security dominating the discussion. Overall, covering a gamut of topics.

There you have it, statistically.