During the Democrats' October 30 debate in Philadelphia, moderator Tim Russert misrepresented prior exchanges Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton had with moderator Judy Woodruff at a September 20 forum in Iowa and with Russert himself at a September 26 debate in New Hampshire and went on to accuse Clinton of having "one public position and one private position" on the issue of raising the cap on income on which Social Security taxes must be paid. Under current law, Social Security taxes are not paid on income above $97,500.

In one of several exchanges for which Russert was characterized by the New York Times in an October 31 article as "arguably" Clinton's "third toughest opponent on the stage" during the October 30 debate, Russert said the following:

RUSSERT: Senator Clinton, I want to clear something up which goes to the issue of credibility. You were asked at the AARP debate whether or not you would consider taxing, lifting the cap from $97,500, taxing that, raising more money for Social Security. You said, quote, "It's a no." I asked you the same question in New Hampshire, and you said "no." Then you went to Iowa and you went up to Tod Bowman , a teacher, and had a conversation with him saying, "I would consider lifting the cap perhaps above $200,000." You were overheard by an Associated Press reporter saying that. Why do you have one public position and one private position?

But Russert's accounts of both the AARP and New Hampshire exchanges are misleading.

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