Comments on: VoterVid: Questions for Republicans

By: Thomas

Thomas — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:19:20 +0000

Of course the republican candidates will go down to a massive defeat in 2008. They have ruined the dollar as well as the economy, and seem bent upon unleashing the third world war. The environment continues to be sacrificed for short-term economic gain for a chosen few. And such a cast of misfits: none are qualified for the job. What defense can they have for all the horror, death, and destruction they have wrought for their super-rich and callow backers?

By: Jody

Jody — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 18:29:36 +0000

If Republicans are scared of the electorate, perhaps there’s good reason for it. And forget all this stuff about the questions being “too hard” or “not polite” enough. These guys work for us, not vice versa. They SHOULD be responsive to our questions. That’s theoretically why they’re in office, isn’t it? To represent us?

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:54:04 +0000

If the Republicans are scared of those easy questions then they have bigger problems than YouTube question bias. It means that they absolutely have no conviction whatsoever. I mean, please:
1. Guantanomo is not the same thing as Japanese internment. American Muslims are not being rounded up simply because of their religious affiliation. Prisoners are people that have been captured on the battlefield.
2. If you want to focus on something like adultery as the basis for your political consideration then do what you have to do.
3. Patriotism is more than love of country; it’s also the respect for national values and pride. On paper, the Democrats haven’t got a clue what this country really stands for. That is the primacy of the individual and individual freedoms and a healthy distrust of big government. But the Republicans don’t seem to practice it either.
4. The NAACP is less an advocacy group than a partisan group. It doesn’t speak for or to all blacks, despite their claims. If candidate wanted to get heavily slanted questions with gobs of specious in-built assumptions as to what the answer “should’ be, then all they have to do is participate in a YouTube debate.

By: lynette

lynette — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:48:20 +0000

I think these YouTube debates are the best thing that could happen in American politics. With the citizenry increasingly alienated from the political powers in Washington, this is one means of those detached, sometimes indifferent, candidates to hear what the American people are thinking.

I am tired of being told what my concerns are by people who are so far removed the reality of life for the average citizen. This method is fresh and, though it can still be manipulated by those choosing the individual videos, it at least makes OUR voices heard and forces the candidates to respond (or not) to our questions.

I can’t count the times I have watched interviews with candidates and other political figures and have found myself yelling at the interviewer to ask about this. Or that. Or any of the things that we never get to ask because we are disenfranchised and not a part of the political process.

YouTube debates kick ass. The Republicans’ refusal to participate is simply evidence of their contempt for the American people. Duly noted, thank you Rudy, Mitt et al.

By: Deborah Gross

Deborah Gross — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 14:28:25 +0000

I have no doubt that young American voters are internet savvy and are rejecting the Republican Party in record droves. It is a huge mistake for Republican candidates to ignore a Youtube debate. I suspect tht they are not about to place themselves in a position to answer questions from ordinary citizens (voters) who want specfics, not sound bites that are carefully controlled by the MSM. The YOUTUBE debate was not flawless, however it was refresshing and I would like to see more. I think also that hour-long debates between two candidates is very crucile to the American public; we need to make informed decisions aobut our leaders based on focused debate on such topics as Foreign policy, global warming, health care, injustice in the Judicial system, nuclear proliferation and separation between the three branches of government.

This is a most challenging time in American. We face hardship, suffering and a host of intractable problems that will require the combined efforts of all of us to bring sanity and decency back to our national identity and our future as a democratic America.

deborahG

By: Andrew March

Andrew March — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 03:15:10 +0000

(Directed to all Republican candidates, but particularly Romney) We have a $3 trillion federal budget. As a fiscal conservative can you list a specific, identifiable $100 billion (approximately 3%) in cuts to this year’s budget that you will fight for even if they are unpopular?

By: Bill Bosch

Bill Bosch — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 22:07:05 +0000

Here’s another question for Republican candidates:

A recent report by Oxfam International and the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq (NCCI), a consortium of non-governmental organizations states that Iraqis are suffering from a growing lack of food, shelter, water and sanitation, health care, education, and employment. Forty-three per cent of Iraqis suffer from ‘absolute poverty’. According to some estimates, over half the population is now without work. Children are hit the hardest by the decline in living standards. Child malnutrition rates have risen from 19 per cent before the US-led invasion in 2003 to 28 per cent now. If you are truly pro-life, what is your plan for increasing the standard of living of these multitudes of innocent, suffering Iraqi people?

By: Scott Mansfield

Scott Mansfield — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 19:05:21 +0000

While I agree that a lot of people submitting questions are angry and seem to want to use rhetoric to insult the candidates rather than pose questions, that doesn’t mean that we should give up on the medium after trying it one or two times. How many of you have been frustrated in the past about the softball questions and BS answers that pass as info in debates like this? Rather than go back to that format, let’s embrace this one, and try to figure out ways to get info from these guys rather than spin.

I’ve submitted a question myself and was pretty polite about it.

By: Seth Eagelfeld

Seth Eagelfeld — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 18:35:02 +0000

After watching these, I’m starting to feel that Mr.Hewitt was right. These debates will be unfair towards Republicans. As would a Townhall meeting. Or, say, a call-in show. Anywhere with “actual people” would be difficult for them. When you’ve been in power as long as these they were, accountability becomes increasingly painful. One has far less to ask of Democrats in regards to the past because, for better or worse, they’re just not responsible for it.