Romney makes a bad move
posted at 11:00 am on July 28, 2007 by Bryan
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He’ll skip the YouTube debate, because it’s not “respectful” enough. So Chris Matthews was “respectful?”
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said Friday that he will not participate in a debate on Sept. 17 co-sponsored by CNN and YouTube, calling the debate not “respectful” enough to be part of the process of selecting a presidential nominee.
In an interview with Steve Scully on C-SPAN, Romney said he has informed CNN that he will be in New York that day and will not attend the debate. He told Scully that all of the candidates will be racing to the end of the third-quarter fundraising deadline at the end of that month.
“During September, we are all scrambling around to raise money we need to run our campaigns,” Romney said. “We will have had four debates by then.”
Asked about the format, which featured video questions submitted by the public, Romney said “There is a degree of respectfulness that ought to be associated with the process fo selecting a nominee. From what I’ve heard, that level of respectfulness was breached.”
“…from what I’ve heard…”? He hasn’t watched the Democrat version yet?
I’ll be the first to say that it’s a gimmicky format. I slogged through the pile of junk videos before the first one, and the vast majority were worthless questions from ill-informed liberals. The GOP version will crank that up to 11, no doubt. That’s just being Captain Obvious. But I’ll also be the first to say that the spin on this decision to skip the debate will be ferocious — “Republicans afraid to take questions from average Americans” is how it’ll get played. Wired is already on that beat. Expect others to follow.
Message to Mitt: Don’t run away from the CNN/YouTube debate.
Update (AP): Must read.
Update (AP): Meanwhile…
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Exactly. You understand. The Blogosphere wants the content - they are looking forward to cutting it up and getting a few days out of it. Nobody else cares.
Can anyone honestly tell me they can picture Ronald Reagan lowering himself to do something like this? Answering questions from Frosty the Liberal Snowman? No. That’s why he was Presidential - above the ankle bitters.
TheBigOldDog on July 29, 2007 at 10:38 AM
If things continue on their current course, Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee for president, You Tube debate or not.
DfDeportation on July 29, 2007 at 10:54 AM
Exactly. Personally, I will have a lot more respect for the candidate who makes a stand against foolishness than the one that is lead by the nose to do the liberals bidding. The youtube “debate” (why the hell does anyone call this a debate?) was an effort by the left to demean the Presidency. Here are all of the questions asked at the debate. How many can you count that were not asinine or just loaded liberal B.S.? Would any respectable moderator ask these questions himself without using the “people have asked” excuse. I think not.
Guardian on July 29, 2007 at 11:06 AM
I think it is paranoid to believe that the Republicans are such a fragile coalition, that opting out of a YouTube debate would shatter it.
captivated_dem on July 29, 2007 at 11:11 AM
I can’t wait to watch a candidate be forced to answer a hot dog.
Guardian on July 29, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Guardian on July 29, 2007 at 11:19 AM
Just think how many people eat hot dogs, knowing how they are made.
captivated_dem on July 29, 2007 at 11:22 AM
If nothing else, at least we will know who ends up where on Santa’s naughty or nice list.
Guardian on July 29, 2007 at 12:09 PM
Liberal questions include:
“Do you think 9/11 was an inside job set up by George W. Bush?”
“Do you think George W. Bush is a fascist?”
“Does George W. Bush hate black people?”
“Do you support torture like George W. Bush does?”
“Do you hate gays like George W. Bush does?”
“Why do Republicans hate black people?”
“Why do Republicans hate gays?”
“Why do Republicans want to keep women barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen?”
Quite frankly, liberal questions only come in loaded form.
Personally I only go to YouTube because I view it as an entertainment site. YouTube is about as serious as Jackass the Movie.
BKennedy on July 29, 2007 at 12:48 PM
Guardian on July 29, 2007 at 12:09 PM
So caught up in ooooh, it’s Santa, I didn’t get the question.
captivated_dem on July 29, 2007 at 1:05 PM
Two very astute observations. Many people have a hard time stepping back and seeing the big picture.
TheBigOldDog on July 29, 2007 at 1:11 PM
Romney is afraid of nothing here.
There is no reason why the GOP can’t arrange a grown-up, respectable, informative debate - an actual debate - using new/alternative media, including perhaps YouTube, live-blogging, whatever. In other words, a debate completely unlike the YouTube nonsense the Dems staged.
Bryan, if it’s gimmicky then it’s not good enough, no? The spin will be gut-wrenchingly negative whatever the GOP does, so why care about that? A Republican could cure cancer, and the MSM would demonize it. Isn’t it time to let go about what the domestic Fifth Column says about our candidates, and do what we know is right?
If the candidates agree to do a CNN YouTube “debate”, don’t you think the spin will be ferociously negative about that, too? Of course it will.
Why can’t we just drop any and all vestiges of New Tone-ism, and go on the offensive like we must? Worrying about how an implacable enemy media will spin Romney’s principled decision doesn’t seem like an aggressive offense to me (otherwise, I almost always agree with you, Bryan…)
Halley on July 29, 2007 at 3:16 PM
Look, all the republican candidates must participate in the You Tube debates. Sure, there will be dumb questions, but there will likely be good questions too. This is a new format, but it is still like most any other televised debate. Only the questions will be comeing from people who emailed or video’d their questions. The republican candidates, includeing Romney don’t need to refrain from useing any format to get out their message. This is important.
2theright on July 30, 2007 at 8:46 AM
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