`  :I don't believe we should be discussing percentages per se. But, in the spirit of moving this conversation along, I suggest the following rewrite.  ·   ===Suggested rewrite===  2008 presidential race interviews controversy  On October 23, 2008, Barbara West interviewed the Democratic vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden with questions she personally wrote. West asked Biden if he was ``embarrassed about Barack Obama's affiliation with ACORN`` given allegations of voter registration fraud by ACORN in elections past, likened Obama's response to a question from Ohio voter ``Joe the Plumber`` to a quote from Karl Marx, asked how Obama's views on distributing the wealth differed from Marxism, and questioned if Obama's view might lead the U.S. ``into a socialist country much like Sweden.`` At one point, Senator Biden asked West if she was joking, and later suggested she was offering ``talking points`` against Barack Obama.  The Obama campaign responded saying ``This campaign has now spanned 21 months and Barack Obama, Michelle Obama and Joe and Jill Biden have done countless tough interviews and they've answered every single question. Let's be clear: This station's interview with Joe Biden wasn't tough  it was just absurd.`` A subsequent interview with the candidate's wife, Jill Biden, was cancelled. Obama's Florida spokeswoman, Adrianne Marsh, called Biden's interviewer, Barbara West, ``both combative and woefully uninformed about simple facts.``Orlando Sentinel  WFTV's news director defended West, saying she had not been inappropriately tough,Political Ticker but some media commentators criticized her performance by comparing it to her interview with Republican candidate John McCain which they characterized as softer.when she had asked him questions such as ``Why haven't you gone after [Obama] on these serious issues of voter registration fraud and the mortgage crisis?`` and ``Do you feel that the Democrats are trying to paint you into a box — in other words, make it impossible for you to criticize Sen. Obama?``.Zaleski, Katharine. Biden Slammed During Florida Interview, Same Anchor Gives McCain Softballs. The Huffington Post. October 25, 2008.  Later, after West interviewed McCain again,On October 27, 2008, Barbara West interviewed the Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain. West asked McCain about alleged in-fighting between his own staff and that of Sarah Palin and whether it was indicative of Palin's belief that the ticket is not going to win, the strength of McCain’s own campaign, why independent analysis showed that Joe the Plumber would do better under Obama's tax plan, and whether the wealthy really need tax cuts. McCain jocularly requested West not say ``anything mean`` or else he ``may get angry.``WFTV IndexWFTV Mark Thomas, a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel, characterized it this interview as tougher than her previous McCain interview because she was ``well aware of her bizarro, Marx-quoting interview with Joe Biden``.  ===Republican ties=== West's husband Wade West is a former political strategist, who contributed $2,250 to four Republican candidat