Truthdig - Ear to the Ground - GOP Candidates Not Ready for YouTube Close-Up?

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GOP Candidates Not Ready for YouTube Close-Up?

Posted on Jul 29, 2007

Perhaps hoping to avoid answering global-warming questions posed by snowmen, the majority of Republican presidential candidates seem a bit commitment-phobic about joining Sen. John McCain and Rep. Ron Paul for their party’s CNN/YouTube debate Sept. 17.

Washington Post:

Rudolph W. Giuliani and Mitt Romney, both with dozens of videos on their YouTube channels, have not signed up. Neither have the rest of the Republican candidates, including Rep. Tom Tancredo (Colo.), whose “Tancredo Takes” on his YouTube channel draw hundreds of views. Sources familiar with the Giuliani campaign said the former New York mayor is unlikely to participate. Kevin Madden, Romney’s spokesman, said the former Massachusetts governor has seven debate invitations over a span of 11 days in September.

“We haven’t committed to any of them yet,” Madden said.

In an interview Wednesday with the New Hampshire Union Leader, Romney said he’s not a fan of the CNN/YouTube format. Referring to the video of a snowman asking the Democratic candidates about global warming, Romney quipped, “I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman.”

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TAGS: cnn debate john mccain mitt romney republican ron paul youtube

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By the 1Sgt, July 30, 2007 at 4:41 pm #
(96 comments total)

#90892 by Douglas Chalmers on 7/30 at 2:11 pm
(416 comments total)

You(we) are the enemey they have subdued and defeated by clever disguise, lies and half-truths designed to conceal their real agenda.
=================================================

Indeed this is the crux of this whole thing. They really believe the “happy days” of duping this country can go forever. The GOP response to the youtube debate shows their true colors and you can bet the democrats are really not that far behind. They both will suffer the consequences of technology and the TRUTH.

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By Douglas Chalmers, July 30, 2007 at 2:11 pm #
(2932 comments total)

#90875 by jason on 7/30 at 12:36 pm: “...I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than being INCAPABLE of reason....”

Very interesting, jason, BUT..... they have been quite cleverly ‘reasoning’ their own game which is quite separate from anything they have ever told us. Read “the Art of War” by Sin Zu or the one by prince Machieveiilli and you will see what they have put into practice is “the art of deception”. You(we) are the enemey they have subdued and defeated by clever disguise, lies and half-truths designed to conceal their real agenda.

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By jason, July 30, 2007 at 12:36 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than being BOUGHT by special interests.

I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than being AFRAID of straightforwardness.

I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than being UNAVAILABLE to the public.

I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than being INCAPABLE of reason.

I think Rudy and Romney have a snowman’s chance in hell of becoming president or at least a presidency held to a higher level.

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By brian, July 30, 2007 at 10:06 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

i thought the president was supposed to represent the general public. if they are unwilling to take questions for the amercain people what does that say about them as a person or even the president if they are unwilling to listen to us.

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By ocjim, July 30, 2007 at 9:19 am #
(357 comments total)

Haven’t voters been slapped in the face enough by their congressional representatives. The Republicans provided a major slapping before the 2006 elections by totally ignoring the interests of the people while taking money and providing an open forum for lobbyists, the most blatant example being the drug companies lobbying while our representatives bullied through the Medicare Prescription bill which gave taxpayer money to the drug companies and HMOs. Isn’t it time we get the voices of the people heard by Republican candidates. Their belief still is that they don’t need us and that we won’t retaliate by rejecting them.

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By PaulMagillSmith, July 30, 2007 at 9:13 am #
(248 comments total)

RE: #90738 by granny miller on 7/29 at 5:55 pm

Right On! Granny Miller, I like your style and clarity of purpose. Excellent post!

Of course the Republicans are going to ‘chicken’ out. Just look at how many ‘chicken’ hawk warmongers are responsible for this Iraq fiasco. Shoving the little guy out there to fight, while the ‘decider’ and his cronies hunker in the bunker is their style, so why should we expect anything different from them. Most of them, McCain excepted of course, were too cowardly to go fight when their turn came, so why would we expect them to face an outraged angry populace. For all their posturing, bluff & bluster they are actually very small people. Having money is not the equal to bravery. Frankly, I think the lowest PFC in Iraq or Afghanistan right now displays more nobility than all the candidates on the Republican side---COMBINED!!!

In my almost 60 years I have found the biggest bullies are invariably the worst cowards. Now I have more proof my thinking is correct. Shame on you Republican candidates...shame!

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By jimijazz, July 30, 2007 at 9:00 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

This shows once again that the republicans “can’t handle the truth” when it comes to real questions from real voters. This shows whats significant about the blogosphere and the republicans are having a hard time adjusting to the new age. Ask a few real questions and bushworld falls like a deck of cards.

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By cdoc77, July 30, 2007 at 6:13 am #
(Unregistered commenter)

The GOP must begin to realize what an important medium the internet has begun. I think they must have reasoned that if all of the major candidates agree to disagree about the Youtube/CNN format, then they won’t suffer any significant backlash from not participating.

While they may be correct in assuming they have more to lose by subjecting themselves to questions from commoners, they have failed to take into account how cowardly they appear. And most importantly they are perpetuating the air of secrecy that surrounds the Bush regime.

Consequently, I think America will wake up to the fact (if she hasn’t already) that you just can’t trust these clowns. If you want change in 2008, VOTE RON PAUL!

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By THOMAS BILLIS, July 29, 2007 at 9:55 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

What does this tell you?They run all over themselves to answer questions asked by reporters.Maybe it is time to have reporters and talking heads replaced by utube.

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By farmertx, July 29, 2007 at 8:28 pm #
(473 comments total)

Seriously
That is why bad was in quotes. I can’t really object to the idea of his being a candidate for, and possibly, President.
Although,in my heart, I know that a good Democrat would be better. And no, I’m not aware of a good Democrat in the race, yet.
Naturally, the ‘dark horses’ of either Party have credibility with a lot of voter’s, but aren’t able to over come the massive amounts that ‘front runner’s’ can raise. And that ought to be changed.

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By granny miller, July 29, 2007 at 5:55 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

“Schedule conflicts”?

You’ve got to be kidding me! What a lame excuse.

What’s Rudy G. afraid of?

Ron Paul?

Maybe “Julie Annie” is afraid that some folks from the NYFD are going to ask questions?
Maybe he needs to answer a couple.

Same goes for Mitt Romney.
Does he take himself so seriously that he can’t take a question from a Snowman?
Or does he think Botox & big money buys The White House?

I have cleared MY CALENDAR and not to have the YouTube debate with all 10 candidates is now a schedule conflict for me!

Why should interested voters be punished because some of the GOP candidates are cry babies and afraid of the American public?

Honest to goodness the Democratic Candidates managed to do it.
I wonder why GOP sissies can’t?

Do they want to be President or what?

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By Louise, July 29, 2007 at 5:14 pm #
(761 comments total)

Well lets see. Here’s a few of the myriad problems the repubs know absolutely nothing about:

Hundreds of thousands of people, mostly children are going without medical care, and going to bed hungry every night.

Schools all across the country are leaving children behind.

Insurance costs more and pays less, if you can get it.

Seniors are paying more for their drugs ... thanks to the “repub” drug bill that was going to save them money.

The working poor, still working see their incomes buy less and less every day, as everything costs more and more every day.

The lawn mowers are being hawked. The car is up on jacks.

Foreclosures are up.

Mortgage Companies are tanking.

The Stock Market keeps burping. The dollar keeps dropping.

People who never thought it could happen to them are facing the very real prospect of being homeless.

The Homeless shelters are full and the ones that aren’t full are closed for lack of funding.

Thousands of Iraq war Vets are going without treatment for brain damage, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, scratching where they used to have a limb and fighting to get their GI guaranteed claims honored.

The carnage in Iraq continues unabated.

Hundreds of thousands of innocent children have been killed in Iraq.

[Small list I know, but I’m running out of room]

Now, here’s the really big problems the repubs know all about:

Abortion.
Right, I never met a repub yet who didn’t love an unborn fetus more than they love a real live child.

Taxes.
Right, the multi-millionaires don’t want to start paying any.

Gay Marriage.
This really scares the Bee-Geebies out of them. I guess they figure if they acknowledge gay love they’ll be raped.

Come on guys ... none of you are that appealing.

Global Warming, sorta.
Well it is a hot-button issue nowadays. They just don’t own it ... yet.

GWOT
We will only win the Global War On Terror [GWOT] if we stay in Iraq and fight alqaeda forever.

Right, they haven’t noticed we lost in Iraq already, the Pentagon has finally admitted a lot of the terrorists we are fighting, or have killed were dead already or never really existed.
Terror is a word.
Mosquitoes are bugs.
The Iraqis hate us.
And yes guys ... so does Israel.

Christian Values.
They know all about this, because in order to get away with being a hypocrite you have to know how to play the piety roll, which they are all pretty good at. However, they will never give up their fortunes and follow the teachings of Christ.
[Oh, are they supposed to do that?
I don’t know, but I think when Jesus was alive that’s what he told his disciples they had to do.]

The repubs want you to know they support the troops ... all the way to the airport.
But they are a busy lot. When the troops come back to that airport dead, they have to be somewhere else.

Can’t help it, just busy, busy, busy.

Not to worry though. Of the 25% who still think repubs are “Gods choice” to save the world, not very many go on line, [too much Church work you know, and the Internet is evil] and probably even fewer understand how to. And probably even fewer know about U-Tube. So the questions these guys get should be from a very small minority of the very narrow minded and right up [or down] their alley.

So yeh ... I think they’ll all be there.
Not that I really give a shhh ...
The dems didn’t come up to snuff either.

Wow! I just had a thought!
Maybe the candidates are really scared to death of real questions from real people. Wow!
Shall we put them on the ropes?
[Hee-Hee!]

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By seriously, July 29, 2007 at 5:09 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

to farmertx: As far as “bad” ideas that you indicate from Ron Paul. Actually, most of his non-mainstream (although very conservative views) are proven from history and discussed at length by various economists. I would suggest you check out his ideas in depth before labeling them.

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By samuel burke, July 29, 2007 at 3:13 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

does mitt rommel really believe that the snowman was actually the one asking the question?

can he be that dumb?

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By GW=MCHammered, July 29, 2007 at 2:53 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

THE GOP MUST GO!

It is essential that both parties get back on track with ‘We The People’ democracy. So in ‘08, shun the GOP entirely. Give them a term or more to repair their twisted union, give us a term or more to repair the mess they created, give the Democrats a dose of what’s coming their way if they can’t manage government to The People’s satisfaction. The only way to end the long history of ‘Political campaign lies and K-Street Ties’ is to vote more parties into power. Then once elected, demand they exist as one body: a team for ‘We The People’ of this once great nation.

BREAK THE TWO-PARTY ADDICTION!

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By farmertx, July 29, 2007 at 1:37 pm #
(473 comments total)

Aw, come on folks, the GOP candidates would be more than happy to engage in a Youtube style debate.
All that needs to be worked out is how to limit the responses to the campaign staffs of the candidates.
Maybe the Shrub will let them borrow his tailors’ mistake jacket?
As to Ron Paul, he has some ‘bad’ ideas, but is by far the most honest of the candidates to date.
Damn, used honest in reference to a politician and no lightning bolts struck nearby....

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By Douglas Chalmers, July 29, 2007 at 12:57 pm #
(2932 comments total)

All Sen. John McCain can do is sing “bomb, bomb..... bomb Iran”! And they are ALL so ugly!

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By felicity, July 29, 2007 at 12:53 pm #
(317 comments total)

Questions from snowmen are beneath answering? Mr. Romney apparently fails to understand that he and his political ilk are beneath getting a question from a snowman.

Could it be that out here lie dangerous little people who might expose the would-be emperors in all their nakedness? I suspect that there lies the truth.

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By Jeff, July 29, 2007 at 12:14 pm #
(Unregistered commenter)

I agree, The republican party Isn’t the party for regular people. Hell, Some DNC Democrats aren’t the candidates for regular folks. What scares these republicans is answering questions about normal american concerns. They can’t relate to us on a personal level.

It’s time for some of these religious zealots who put Bush and other right-wing wackos into power to wake up and smell the Frankincense. The only people they answer to is corporate America. The sooner the people Turn off Faux News and open their eyes. The better we become as a nation.

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By the 1Sgt, July 29, 2007 at 11:33 am #
(96 comments total)

Except for Ron Paul, they are all scared shitless about having to answer to ordinary Americans (on the spot) even knowing the majority of the questions will have been censored by CNN.

Poor McCain figures he’s got nothing to lose...oh well.

This decision seems to have been something they must have talked about (notice the time lag between the Dem you tube date and the Rep scheduled date).

I think the GOP is making a big mistake by playing it this way but like all but Ron Paul...they love stepping in dogshit, over and over, with the mistakes made by the GOP.

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