NUMBER OF SUNDAY MORNING SHOW INTERVIEWS SINCE APRIL 1999 BY RUDY GIULIANI OR RICK LAZIO vs. NUMBER OF SUNDAY MORNING SHOW INTERVIEWS BY HILLARY CLINTON IN THE SAME TIME FRAME:
19 to 0
NUMBER OF NETWORK-SPONSORED TOWN MEETINGS FOR GIULIANI OR LAZIO COMPARED TO NETWORK-SPONSORED TOWN MEETINGS FOR HILLARY:
0 to 3 (CBS's The Early Show, NBC's Today, and CNN in prime time)
While Giuliani and Lazio have subjected themselves to nearly 20 interviews with network anchors, Hillary Clinton or her aides have never even promised she would show up for Sunday morning scrutiny. When CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked about her absenteeism on the May 21 Late Edition, spokesman Harold Ickes committed her to nothing: "Well, she's focused on New York. She has had innumerable one-on-one interviews with New York media, both electronic and press. She has been at a number of editorial boards. She's been on your wonderful town hall out of Buffalo, your hometown. So I think if you look at where she's been, she's been focusing her attention on New York and the New York press and has been very accessible."
"It's not fair that CBS, CNN, and NBC granted one candidate a scripted town-meeting forum without any promise of a risky Sunday interview, and her opponents get grilled by Russert, Schieffer, and Blitzer on Sunday with no town meeting," said MRC Director of Media Analysis Tim Graham. "Her Sunday absenteeism only adds value to the tender town-hall moments."