Right-Wing Media Try To Distract From Debate By Attacking Michelle Obama

To Right-Wing Media Brief Applause Is A Greater Breach Of Debate Decorum Than Badgering Your Opponent

Right-wing media are trying to distract from the assessment by conservatives and others that President Obama won the second Presidential debate by attacking Michelle Obama.

Conservative media outlets including The Weekly Standard, The Daily Caller, The Blaze, Breitbart.com, and the Drudge Report have claimed that Michelle Obama broke the rules by joining audience applause at one point during the debate. Fox Radio's Todd Starnes went so far as to call Michelle Obama unbecoming. These attacks come despite the fact that Mitt Romney repeatedly violated the debate rules.

Prior to the debate, the campaigns agreed to a rule stating that “the candidates may not ask each other direct questions during any of the four debates.”

Nevertheless, Romney repeatedly asked Obama questions during the debate on a variety of subjects including oil drilling, the investments in Obama's pension, and the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

All of which leads to the possibility that the conservative media is less concerned with the debate rules than they are with changing the subject from the substance of the debate.