Was “Undecided” Questioner Catherine Fenton Former Media Coordinator of CodePink Long Island?

October 17, 2012
volokh.com

How good was Gallup’s vetting of the questioners at the 2d Presidential debate held at Hofstra on Long Island?

One explicitly feminist question was asked by undecided voter Catherine Fenton:

And it’s Katherine Fenton, who has a question for you.
QUESTION: In what new ways to [do] you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn?

By a strange coincidence, there happens to be a Catherine Fenton who in 2008 identified herself as the Media Coordinator of CodePink Long Island.

Is she the same Catherine Fenton? Presumably we will be able to determine this over the next few days. [UPDATE: Orin points out that the questioner seems too young for the CodePink official. I think he's probably correct.]

For now, it is worth noting that the CodePink Fenton discussed whether feminists in March 2008 should support Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or a third-party candidate:

As a liberal, I believed and still do believe, that after the complete and abject failure of conservatism, we should have been heralding in a President Al Gore, or if not, then a President John Edwards. Barack Obama is not my first choice. But as he did vote yes on banning cluster bombs in civilian areas, and speak out against this war before it happened, perhaps he is the better choice. Perhaps a third party candidate is a better choice for you. These are matters of individual conscience. But Hillary is not the answer.

And I’m not turning my feminist card in.

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION

Catherine Fenton
Media Coordinator
CODEPINK Long Island

The CodePink Fenton seems to argue that Hillary Clinton is not reliably left wing enough for her tastes.

More here and here.

UPDATE: Because probably few people who supported McCain in 2008 are undecided today, Gallup had a problem coming up with unbiased undecideds. Indeed, CNN admitted that almost all of the audience had voted for Obama in 2008.

There may be a partial solution to this problem: pick a majority of people who supported Bush in 2004. 2004 was a close election, so it shouldn’t have been hard to find undecideds today who voted for Bush in 2004. Next, CNN (or the debate commission) could have picked a Republican-leaning reporter to be a moderator.

2d UPDATE: Orin above points out that the questioner seems too young to be the CodePink official. I think he’s probably right.