submitting to a demeaning format where the participants don’t represent real people at all and the questions are screened for entertainment value

Which is how dimorats would view a Talk Radio Debate hosted by Limbaugh and Hewitt. My suggestion is to make a more comparable format between YouTube = TalkRadio instead of the ridiculous Fox News Channel comparison.

IMO a Talk Radio Debate hosted by Limbaugh and Hewitt would be FAR MORE legit than any YouTube debate ever could. The POINT is that dimorat candidates would not get within a hundred parsecs of one. One might imagine people saying to the dim candidates “Hey you complain about TalkRadio and that’s why you SHOULD WANT to engage the people of America in that format rather than abandon the media to conservatives !”.

Persuasive? Hardly.

William Amos on July 29, 2007 at 7:08 PM

I even went further down. It’s like a Kos annex over there.

But back to the “debate”. I’ve been saying since I first heard there was going to be a youtube debate, the Dims were getting the good shot, Repubs were gonna get the shaft. Ir was up to them to make the best of it. I personally don’t think running from it, is making the best of it. On the other hand even getting an easy setup has caused Shrill and Obama to go after each other.
So what are we left with? So far Ron Paul and McCain getting 2 hours of free air time. That’s not good. I don’t see CNN calling this monkey off. Nobody beside FNC is pointing out Dims not going on FOX. So it only makes the Repubs look bad. Is it gonna be pretty? No, so go, but treat it for the dog and pony show it is. My take only.

Thanks for the ‘life-vest’ :)

If the prospect of fielding a question from a talking snowman is that disquieting to you, just concede that the Democrats were right to walk away from Fox and walk away.

I would hope that one could tell the difference between taking questions from a snowman, a hot dog, and Santa Claus from dignified questions from an accountable moderator on Fox.

But maybe Mitt Romney will reconsider the debate once he realizes that YouTube isn’t Myspace.

Nonfactor on July 29, 2007 at 9:07 PM

Maybe Joe Biden can go on My Space and ask them if they have had an AIDS test ?

boris on July 29, 2007 at 7:27 PM

The Republican Candidates go on Boston talk radio (which covers New Hampshire) all the time and take questions from listeners.

This isn’t about taking questions for “real people” it’s about submitting to a demeaning format where the participants don’t represent real people at all and the questions are screened for entertainment value. Reagan wouldn’t be a part of such a farce and neither should any of the Republican candidates. Let the Dems play the fools. They are good at it.

MODERATOR: Harriet the Duck, from Dubuque, has a question for Governor Romney.

HtheD: Mr. Romney, are the Mormons ever going to drink tea?

The media is letting it slip into the Twilight Zone… by design.

If you say you’re okay with the format but want the questions approved by people who lean your way, you’re admitting you won’t step in to the box unless you’re expecting softballs.

I stopped watching CNN during their coverage of the Republican Convention, ’92 or ’96, I don’t remember which. Haven’t watched since. They were brutally partisan and entirely negative. Completely opposite of their coverage of the Democrat Convention that same summer.

Maybe you remember the Republican June 5th debate on CNN. More people watched the FOX analysis of the debate than watched the debate itself because a lot of people don’t trust CNN.

I’m just saying there should be a level playing field. Why should the debates be seen though a liberal lens?

CNN would eliminate any that are profane or offensive and just ask the rest in order. It’d absolve them completely from complaints over question selection and it’d make for dynamite television given the amount of crankery it would promise.

You don’t think people would still complain? If people are willing to assume that the selection of questions will be biased by the people at CNN why wouldn’t those same people assume that the selection of questions will be biased by the general public (the YouTube community)?

But maybe Mitt Romney will reconsider the debate once he realizes that YouTube isn’t Myspace.

Mcguyver

The Republican reluctance to engage in the scheduled September YouTube debate has created a fierce debate in the blogosphere, including something of a civil war at Hugh Hewitt’s Townhall blog. Hugh himself has adamantly insisted that Republican candid…

To suggest that YouTubers are irrelevant is to suggest that Hot Air is irrelevant. That’s understandable. But I still don’t buy the need for serious candidates for the US Presidency to field questions from Frosty the Snowman.

(I like that – 38 seconds to Michael Moore. Sounds like a book title or movie title.)

Sounds like what you hear a minute before the buffet runs out of food.

Instead have Republican candidates to a Talk Radio Debate hosted by Limbaugh and Hewitt using questions submitted by their listeners.

THEN demand Democrat candidates submit to the same format.

Get it now ??? (c’mon people use your noggins)

I would tell rudy or Fred or Mitt or anyone of them to push for ONE moonbat type question about 9/11

Have some raving leftie lunatic stand up there and trash the US and rant about his vile conspiracy theories.

Then when he finishes Have said candidate turn around and answer

“I see we have a member of Obama(or Hillary’s) campaign here. This America is what the democratic party stands for. This is what they believe. This is the best reason to elect me as President of the United States to prevent this kind of thinking from being in control of the country”

If only….

Demanding a change in rules after the Dem debate’s already gone off actually looks worse, I think, than pulling out altogether. If you walk away, you can at least try to spin it as objecting to an undignified format. Most people won’t buy that, me included, but some will.

I think this whole debacle is pathetic. If President Bush is fielding questions from 4th grader at townhall meetings, I don’t want to hear any crap about how the candidates don’t think it’s presidential enough to warrant consideration even though the Democrats already did it.

This is almost the epitome of the stodgy old suit that can’t be troubled to engage the younger generations. And what would Reagan have done? I don’t know, because I’m not him, but I bet he’d told spread his message and put on a show doing it. I have some audio of speeches of his, where he is places that you might not expect.

And regardless of any media bias, the amount of voters who get their news from talk radio and right-wing blogs is very small when you’re looking at the big picture. If you want to reach mainstream Republicans and independents you can’t just constantly rely on Sean Hannity and Hugh Hewiit to get on their knees for you. This election is going to be tough enough for Republicans as is, shunning the MSM as “biased” and only talking to those who get goggly eyed just looking at you is not the way to improve your odds.

(i.e. Have you stopped beating your wife yet? No. I mean yes. I mean…)

“the youtube situation is demeaning to the Presidency”

Guardian on July 29, 2007 at 6:39 PM

I agree. The whole thing seems to cheapen the debate to some kind of gimmicky sock-puppet game. We the electorate would be better served via a round table style debate ala Special Report w/ Brit Hume. The KEY is a fair journalist moderating, although such a thing is in small supply these days. The best debate format is one that cuts to the meat and potatoes of core issues. Youtube style is quite the opposite spectrum.

Posted by archie stanson
July 28, 2007
Americans no longer need to hear what repukes have to say. We know they love illegal wars, tax breaks for the rich, and they resist the right to immigration for the peoples.

All intelligent people in America have tuned out the GOP long ago. All we have to do now is replace the GOP with more Democrats and then move toward the wonderful place we will be.

Impeachment would speed this up and should still be our #1 priority.

Posted by archie stanson
July 28, 2007
Cheney survived another hospitalization. We must achieve IMPEACHMENT before the next one

Again is this what we will see on Youtube ?

If you walk away, you can at least try to spin it as objecting to an undignified format. Most people won’t buy that, me included, but some will.

I think most people “will” buy that…me included.

Would Reagan have ever faced this type of format?

Theworldisnotenough on July 29, 2007 at 6:37 PM

“What Would Reagan Do? WWRD?” I like the sound of that.