HuffPo to co-sponsor GOP debate which all GOP candidates will surely boycott
posted at 5:40 pm on April 24, 2007 by Allahpundit
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I’m honestly curious what Arianna was thinking here. Did she really believe Republicans would subject themselves to a forum on the most loathsomely bottom-feeding major left-wing blog on the ‘Net, dKos not excepted? Where the comments on threads about Republican politicians with health problems need to be closed preemptively to prevent the inevitable flood of death wishes? After Silky Pony et al. have already set a precedent for boycotting forums considerably less hostile than this one?
Either she knew they’d decline but wanted to force their hand to re-balance the scales of rejectionist pols or else she accepted it as a test of her own charm and clout to see if she could make it happen through the sheer strength of her shmooze power.
McCain and Romney are already out so I hope for her sake it’s not the latter.
Exit question one: Will Fred! accept the invitation as a test of his own charm and mettle? Exit question two: If he does, what will the ratio of Truther-related to non-Truther-related questions be?
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Of course she knew they would decline.
Now her blog comments have more fodder for the “cowardly Republicans.”
catmman on April 24, 2007 at 5:45 PM
The HuffPo Dem Debate should be a hoot though….
rw on April 24, 2007 at 5:45 PM
The want to have something to compare the moonbat boycott/avoidance of FOX News.
Apples and orange elephants.
shooter on April 24, 2007 at 5:47 PM
y
shooter on April 24, 2007 at 5:47 PM
Agreed, entirely. As if anyone with a functioning brain could compare Fox News and the CBRC to HuffHo.
Jaibones on April 24, 2007 at 5:54 PM
the -real- exit question is: what will get more coverage – the republicans not showing up to huffpo’s debate or the democrats not showing up to fox’s?
lorien1973 on April 24, 2007 at 5:55 PM
Is this like “What if somebody started a war and nobody came…”
They are like little kids needing attention; even negative attention is still attention.
DAT60A3 on April 24, 2007 at 5:56 PM
this is why democrats always win though.
by pre-emptively dropping out of fox’s debate and having republicans scold them for it; if republicans drop out of the debate, democrats can call them hyporcites. Happens all the time. And republicans always get the short end of the deal.
I’d expect the same thing time, too
lorien1973 on April 24, 2007 at 6:01 PM
lame and obvious effort by the left to provide cover for their dissing Fox for idiotic reasons.
jp on April 24, 2007 at 6:04 PM
I went to DIGG this story, and BEFORE I could comment, some moonbat had done just that, compared Fox to HuffPo.
Go see it, unfrickinbelievable. Click on Digg.
shooter on April 24, 2007 at 6:06 PM
i don’t see how such a set up would evoke equivalence at all. i’m sure that the republican candidates will be eager to participate in any debate sponsored by a liberal news organization like cnn, abc, cbs, npr etc..
dems refusing to participate in a debate sponsored by a news organization and republicans refusing to participate in something sponsored by a hate-site are apples and oranges.
jummy on April 24, 2007 at 6:09 PM
You know it!
- The Cat
MirCat on April 24, 2007 at 6:11 PM
Any Republican who would subject himself to this is fairly unbalanced.
Maybe Chuck Hagel can debate whether he plans to enter the race.
JammieWearingFool on April 24, 2007 at 6:12 PM
Since when did huffpo become a news organization ? They are at best just a left wing blog. They have no credibility on this issue.
Its like having Sesame Street or MTV hold presidentual debates.
William Amos on April 24, 2007 at 6:12 PM
Judging by the vile nature of the atmosphere AH fosters at huffpo, no one with any class what so ever would be caught dead associating themselves with her. IMHO, she is classless.
csdeven on April 24, 2007 at 6:14 PM
I’m running for president……..of the federalist society
I’ll debate at HuffPo
Defector01 on April 24, 2007 at 6:26 PM
Am I in the spam filter? No trackbacks are going through?
Pam on April 24, 2007 at 6:29 PM
I’m having a debate in my garage next week all of the democratic candidates are cowards unless they attend.
Punch and pie will be provided.
JayHaw Phrenzie on April 24, 2007 at 6:31 PM
I’d be surprised if the HuffPo Dem debate actually gets off the ground as well. Dean was working with the campaigns to limit the debates to one each month. There’s no way the leading Dem candidates would agree to a HuffPo debate, and there’s no way that the DNC would agree to make it one of the monthly sanctioned debates. There would be too many potential landmines in HuffPo questions, especially if they are submitted by the users. Even MSNBC would have more reach than HuffPo. Any reward offered to the Dem candidates would not warrant the risk involved.
For any lefty listing the Republicans that have turned down the debate invitiation, I’d like to see him also list a Democrat that has accepted the debate invitation.
rw on April 24, 2007 at 6:46 PM
Exit Answer One: Wouldn’t that actually require him to declare? How much longer does he plan on putting it off?
Huffington did this, knowing they’d decline, so as to balance the scales of pols who avoid certain debates. Her philosophy is flawed, however, as we’ll see in the coming months. Republican candidates will debate on more than just Fox News, meaning they’ll debate on Liberal networks (ie. CNN, MSNBC, PBS, CBS, ABC).
amerpundit on April 24, 2007 at 6:51 PM
What is with the Democrat only and Republican only debates. I hope Republicans get into a debate between both parties, that would be awesome. Topics like national security, immigration, labor, and campaign finanace reform(Fred)would be a great debate.
Democrats probably do not want any conservative ideology infecting their candidates. I hope the Republicans accept. Make the Democrats look that much weaker, please?
Theworldisnotenough on April 24, 2007 at 7:27 PM
primary debates are always intra-party.
lorien1973 on April 24, 2007 at 7:36 PM
I’d go. What a perfect opportunity to trash liberals, especially the hosts, and they gotta sit there and take it.
Arianna used to have dreams of being First Lady in a phony Republican White House. I’d make sure to point that out during the debate and warn the audience to avoid all the Michael Huffington type candidates that are being forced on them by the media.
Perchant on April 24, 2007 at 8:19 PM
But if Republican candidates can’t stand up to Arianna Huffington how can they stand up to the terrorists?
JaHerer22 on April 24, 2007 at 8:52 PM
They can. But unlike the Democrats vis-a-vis Fox, they’re not going to get a fair question from Arianna.
And I hasten to remind you that it wasn’t the Republicans who chose to play this game first.
Do you not think it’s fair to politely pass on a forum hosted by an outfit that’s extremely partisan? I wouldn’t knock the Democrats for passing on a forum hosted by Free Republic. I would knock the Republicans for passing on a forum that’s a left-wing equivalent of Fox, e.g., NPR.
Allahpundit on April 24, 2007 at 8:56 PM
“Senator Thompson, do you think everyone in the Bush Administration should be jailed or executed?”
Pablo on April 24, 2007 at 8:58 PM
There’s also nothing for them to gain. Fox has an enormous nationwide audience on its television networks. Arianna has a website.
Pablo on April 24, 2007 at 9:02 PM
“Neither, but where I do sharply part with this Republican President and past Republican Presidents is on their failure to execute traitors during wartime. As we witnessed during the last presidential election, these traitors have a tendency to come back and get nominated as Democrat presidential candidates when they aren’t disposed of properly.”
See how easy it is? There is no reason to fear any of their questions.
Perchant on April 24, 2007 at 9:18 PM
is there a difference between Arianna and terrorists ?
But more seriously she has no credibility. She isnt some honest broker or even someone that is relevant to american politics.
I tell you what Jaherer I will push for republicans to go on a huff and puff debate if you push democrats to go on a debate sponcered by Hot Air and Michelle Malkin
William Amos on April 24, 2007 at 10:14 PM
Who said there were any terrorist?
PinkyBigglesworth on April 24, 2007 at 10:55 PM
Hello? Pay attention. AH doesn’t merit the respect that a republican debate would afford her vile disgusting foul website.
csdeven on April 24, 2007 at 11:06 PM
Exit question answers.
1) Maybe, I haven’t got a good read on him for actions like this.
2) 70/30
Oh, and JaHerer22 you’ve missed the relevant talking points. “Terrorism” is just a front so Bush can take away your rights, isn’t it? Or is terrorism real, and the Democrats unwillingness to face this problem a real and tangible drawback to letting them have leadership roles?
Or did you want to have it both ways again?
gekkobear on April 24, 2007 at 11:09 PM
If it’s not too rude to quote myself: “…with a functioning brain…” And you know what ah’m talkin’ ’bout.
Jaibones on April 24, 2007 at 11:27 PM
She has no charms. She’s one of the biggest phoneys in political history. Feminists should be ashamed to associate with her, for her historical chameleon traits. She sold her brain, beliefs and body for money.
When Mr. Schwarzenegger announced, she suddenly appeared on the stairs, to get that huge airtime. Someone charming on his/her own doesn’t need to pull such cheap tricks. Californians figured her out a long time ago. Greatness is only in her head, and in the ones who bow to her.
JaHerer22, they didn’t send you the memo? There is no “terrorism”. You’re not even pc to use the term any more.
Entelechy on April 25, 2007 at 12:00 AM
I couldn’t care less about being PC.
And of course there are terrorists, unfortunately there are probably more now after Bush’s Wacky Iraqi Adventure wasn’t as a big a hit in the Muslim world as he anticipated.
And my first comment was a joke; it’s a stupid and completely irrelevent comparison. And it was just as pointless and irrelvent when it was used against Democrats and Fox News.
JaHerer22 on April 25, 2007 at 9:08 AM
gekkobear, 70/30??
I think we’ll get a “DIVIDE BY ZERO!!” error trying to answer exit question #2.
jdpaz on April 25, 2007 at 11:09 AM
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