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  Debate By Numbers

  Using transcripts from CNN and the New York Times debate analyzer, I crunched some stats from last night's GOP debate.

  • 3: Number of times Hillary Clinton was mentioned
  • 4: Number of times Bill Clinton was mentioned
  • 2: Number of times Mitt Romney mentioned health care
  • 0: Number of times any other candidate mentioned health care
  • 5: Number of times Rudy Giuliani said "Islamic"
  • 3: Number of times any other candidate said "Islamic," "Islam," or "Muslim"
    
  • 4: Number of times Duncan Hunter addressed Anderson Cooper as "Cooper." No other candidate followed suit.
  • 2: Number of times the candidates mentioned President Bush
  • 26: Number of times, according to CNN's transcript, the audience laughed
  • 5: Number of times the audience laughed after watching a question from a YouTube user
    
  • 7: Number of times the audience laughed after a Fred Thompson joke
  • 4: Number of times the audience laughed after a Mike Huckabee joke
  • 0: Number of times the audience laughed after Ron Paul or Duncan Hunter said something

  Also, a breakdown of which candidates speak the fastest. Mitt Romney's mouth was a-flappin', while Fred Thompson, unsurprisingly, was the slowest talker.

  Talker	Words	Seconds	Words/sec
  Moderator	2174	812	2.68
  YouTube Questioners	2398	942	2.55
  Giuliani	3163	945	3.35
  Huckabee	1942	587	3.31
  Hunter	918	293	3.13
  McCain	2034	670	3.04
  Paul	1288	431	2.99
  Romney	3223	831	3.88
  Tancredo	830	221	3.76
  Thompson	1841	625	2.95

   

  If you'd like, feel free to compare the words-per-second statistics to the Democrats'.
  

  Published Thursday, November 29, 2007 11:00 AM by Chadwick Matlin
  Email Chadwick.Matlin+TH@gmail.com

  Filed under: Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani, Tom Tancredo, debate, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Duncan Hunter, Tubers

About Chadwick Matlin

• Chadwick Matlin is the staff reporter for Slate's The Big Money, a new business site launching in the fall. He can be reached at Chadwick.Matlin+TH@gmail.com