GOP Youtube Debate Thread

McCain tip-toed up to the line of criticizing Bush when he said that Bush picked Cheney for VP (actually Cheney picked Cheney) because he had not foriegn policy experience. That was the only mention I remember. Lots of Reagan references, though.

 

I think these debates are getting too cute for their own good (though I suspect getting a high rating has something to with it).I'm not just talking about videos, I'm referring to focusing on wedge issues, gays and guns and faith. Why does everyone wrap their arms around the second amendment and yet has no problems tinkering with the other ones?
We're not far from a time when debates will be judged by a jolly black man, a ditzy past her prime diva and some hack with a British accent. Candidates will be required to dance, participate in a cooking segment and throw a football, baseball or basketball. They will have "confessionals" where they are given a chance to share their innermost thoughts with the camera when not competing. The GOP final will feature a shooting contest, a Bible quiz and a fashion show (to make sure they ARE NOT gay). The Dems will have to build a house for a family in New Orleans, find a doctor who will perform an appendectomy for less than $500 and help as many old people across the street in a minute without causing harm to the helpee. The results will then be analyzed by the spouses of the contenders...and Howie Mandel.

 

This is can't-miss TV. With the writers' strike, who knows...

 

The candidates won't cross a picket line to get into the studio, is why it was canceled, I think.

 

Why not just switch it to a GOP debate, they'll love to walk through a picket line?

 

I have some questions about the "planted questions" thing.

Are these guys running for President of the United States, or for President of Frank Luntz's Focus Groups? If it's the former, who cares who's asking the questions? The questions - and even Grover's -- concerned legitimate issues. (Tax policy, gays in the military, abortion rights). It wasn't as though some Clinton plant got in and asked McCain about his black love child, or, conversely, like a GOP plant got through and asked HRC about her affair with Vince Foster. The fact that none of these guys had a good answer should matter more than who asked the question.

 

The two parties have only themselves to blame for anything they don't like about these "debates." They let the cable networks set them up and run them. CNN wants a freak show for ratings, and NBC wants Tim Russert to be seen as smarter than any President. What happens to the candidates is just collateral damage.
For a very modest investment, either party could set up its own debates and invite, or better yet, sell the rights to, any networks they want.

 

I don't see why there's such an uproar over whether or not a plant asked a question. If any candidate cannot think fast on his/her feet when asked a question, then how can we expect them to perform during a terrorist attack? And this goes for the candidates on both sides of the aisle.

 

There was nothing wrong with the question, but I really wonder if the guy said I'm also a member of Clinton's steering committee and a Log Cabin Republican, how the candidates answers would have changed.