there being=past or present

[ostap77]

"I thought Coakley had a terrible perfomance in the debate when she talked about there being no terrorists in Afghanistan."

Does 'there being' mean 'there were or there are' in the sentence?

[5jj]

"I thought Coakley had a terrible perfomance in the debate when she talked about there being no terrorists in Afghanistan now."
"I thought Coakley had a terrible perfomance in the debate when she talked about there being no terrorists in Afghanistan until 1990."

[ostap77]

"I thought Coakley had a terrible perfomance in the debate when she talked about there being no terrorists in Afghanistan now."
"I thought Coakley had a terrible perfomance in the debate when she talked about there being no terrorists in Afghanistan until 1990."

And then "What a clear shot she gave Bill Kristols's". That's it! no "now" or "until ....." there. It's from the Corpus of Contemporary American English. Since I have only so much context,how could I interpret it?

[5jj]

Since I have only so much context,how could I interpret it?

The most likely meaning is 'there are', but we cannot be absolutely certain.

[ostap77]

The most likely meaning is 'there are', but we cannot be absolutely certain.

Could I say something like "Do you think she's going to be comfortable with there being many people at the party?" to mean "if there are many people at the party?

[5jj]

Could I say something like "Do you think she's going to be comfortable with there being many people at the party?" to mean "if there are many people at the party?

Not really. There is no 'if' about your sentence.

[ostap77]

Not really. There is no 'if' about your sentence.

I know there are going to be many people so I'm wondering if she's comfortable with it?