Thu 29 Nov 2007
Presidential primary politics is not my usual beat, but, apparently, many of the questioners on last night’s CNN/YouTube Republican debate were not the typical-unaffiliated-Americans that Anderson Cooper promised us. Bill Bennett ‘65 leads the way.
Perhaps someone from YouTube ought to teach the nice people at CNN about Google. It works for EphBlog!
November 29th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Heaven forbid politicians might have to answer questions from people that don’t already support them.
November 29th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Thats really not the issue. The real issues are:
A) These people were purportedly undecided voters, and if the guy is working for Clinton’s campaign, he obviously isn’t undecided.
B) This isn’t the first time that CNN has done something like this:
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2007/11/cnn-plants-questions-to-protect-hillary.html
Also, in direct response to your point, its a debate for the republican primary. Why should someone who is obviously a democrat get a chance to ask a question when he won’t be voting in the primary?
November 29th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
I liked the question. Why not talk about DADT?
I don’t think the issue hurts Republicans. Hillary is going to have to answer for “the plant”, and then, she is going to have to discuss her view on openly homosexual men and women serving in our armed forces.
I doubt she planted this question. If she did, it was not a politically wise move. I wonder how it polls?
November 29th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
I’d like to suggest MSM has bigger problems than whether CNN’s chosen You Tube questioners were all undecided as advertised, not that I’m pleased to hear they were not.
About the three CNN questioners, I say hit CNN hard for misrepresenting the truth. Demand an explanation. But as far as their particular questions, if they’re relevant to the presidency, let’s have them asked an answered.
Reporters used to take some pride in separating misleading and untrue claims from the truth. Now, under the principle of Fair and Balanced reporters act as stenographers recording opposing opinion’s from two sides of a question and rarely do the hard work of figuring out what is truth and what is deceptive and misleading. Here’s another: Judy Miller’s and the NYT’s reporting of Bush Administration claims of Iraq WMD in the run-up to the war.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:54 pm
Should anyone be surprised that politicians show their fundamental dishonesty? I would be mildly surprised if they did not.