4 of first 5 post-debate guests on MSNBC were Republicans

In the hour following the October 13 presidential debate between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry, MSNBC's coverage oversampled Republican "analysis" of the debate: Four of the first five guests on the program were supporters of President Bush, and the second Kerry supporter was not interviewed until exactly an hour after the debate had concluded (11:31 p.m. ET). After interviewing Kerry political adviser Robert M. Shrum, the next four guests were Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Bush campaign senior adviser Karen Hughes, former New York City mayor and Republican National Convention primetime speaker Rudolph Giuliani, and White House communications director Dan Bartlett.

The final four guests on the program were Kerry's daughter Vanessa Kerry, Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans, former Democratic presidential candidate General Wesley Clark, Joe Trippi, campaign manager for former Democratic presidential candidate and Vermont governor Howard Dean, resulting in a total of five Republican guests versus four Democrats.