Winners v. Losers
Winners-Huckabee was en fuego. McCain performed almost as well. Universally 99.9% of the commentary supported Huckabee as the leader.
The Murky and Muddy Middle-Thompson’s last ditch effort was lack luster and according to a CNN commentator “lost without his cue cards.” His commercial didn’t stand on his principles and policy choices, and instead looked like a rabid attack dog (playing bad soundbite games) next to more presidential candidates.
Losers-Rudy v. Romney seemed a bit like a cat fight as the shots were fired back and fourth. Ron Paul was lackluster and didn’t get enough coverage. Tancredo wasn’t exactly spectacular either.
Key National Issues Left Off the Debate Agenda:
From The Tech President chat:
Micah also sez: and i’m surprised that CNN didn’t include any questions on health care, jobs, the environment, the falling dollar, outsourcing, trade, or anywhere but Iraq.
Did the CNN Debates Honor the You Tube Community and Democracy:
According to the folks in the YouTube CNN Debate chat at Tech Republican only 1 in the top 40 most watched questions and only 2 of the community counts top questions were asked. I think CNN’s editorial hand played very heavily. If the community can come up with the questions and provide CNN with material, why isn’t it also qualified to. What is the point of it watching the questions before the debate, if CNN ultimately pulls 99.9% of the strings? Its like your parents taking you on a pre-Christmas stroll through the toy section for a selection process and not actually getting anything you picked for the holiday.
Quotes of the evening:
“They’re all trying to out-Tancredo Tancredo.” Tancredo
“I’m vested in a scenario of victory” Fred Thompson
Best Questions:
The Bible, torture, and inner city violence question questions. The gay general and the why don’t African American’s vote Republican were both on-point.
Worst Questions:
Hands down the question was the Grover Norquist question:
8:43 P.M. Wait. The tax question is from Grover Norquist, a prominent D.C.-based GOP operative. That totally undermines the whole concept of the YouTube debate. As if Grover doesn’t have enough access to the candidates. That’s pathetic, CNN and YouTube. Pathetic.
A close second would be the Mars question. Mars? The Red planet? With human population of zero? Really? Not the stuff about the Micah talked about?
Worst Commercial:
The coal revolution?!?!
Hot. And after West Virginia? Nice. Coal = progress. Quality…
Where Can You Find Other Great Coverage:
Tech President and Moderate Voice.
My Questions for You:
I want to hear from you. What did you think? What were your takeaways? Who won? What issues were most important to you? What issues will be most important in the election? Am I wrong about Ron Paul’s performance? Whose video was best v. worst? Make your voice heard. The ball is in your court….
Bonus Update:
Connie Rice from NPR on the Top 10 Secrets They Don’t Want You To Know about the Debates
. Also, apparently according to Mashable, the Democrats have launched a library of Republican Videos. Enjoy!
5 responses so far ↓
My experience live blogging the CNN/YouTube Debates « Compassion in Politics // November 29, 2007 at 4:50 am
[...] About ← And the winners of the Republican CNN/YouTube Debates were?…Survey Says…. [...]
Gary Danelishen // November 29, 2007 at 4:58 am
Please consider contributing on the 16th of December.
Ron Paul needs the publicity of another big fund raising day.
I’m a veteran of the U.S. Air Force active duty (4yrs) and I currently serve as a traditional guardsman in the Air National Guard. All military personnel upon enlistment take the oath: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…” A vote for Rep. Paul does just that. Ron Paul has my support.
There is an obvious media bias and it is sad. Rep. Paul is the one candidate of the crowd who has substantially differing views and he was not given much of a chance to articulate those views. Much time was given to marginal issues and small differences between other candidates’ positions on the issues. I suspect many special interest groups have much to lose if a President Paul had a chance to use his veto pen. This is reflected in the lack of time given to Rep. Paul.
Amy Miller // November 29, 2007 at 5:15 am
I LOVED the Rudy-Mitt meltdown right at the start. Like two immature, spoiled little brats yelling “I know you are, but what am I?” They twist and turn their stories and positions so many times, what anybody sees in either of them is beyond me.
McCain is so desperate, but his motto is “When in doubt, say ‘Iraq.’” I truly think McCain is losing it. Paul set his position straight, but could have had a better comeback than “More active military support me (Paul) than any other Republican candidate.” Still, Paul’s logic is sound.
Huckabee? Has great TV ads. He appeared friendly enough–But he has embraced the radical evangelicals that hijacked our Republican Party 25 years ago. His fatal mistake. Great talker. He has borrowed Ron Paul’s longstanding credo to eliminate the IRS. Good move.
Ron Paul, love him or hate him, he solicits the most response. He doesn’t sway from his positions, and he finally got pissed, which got him a little flustered, but I can understand that. Good to see. I wish more people would read his new book. His writings are almost prophetic as to what position our foreign policy has got the USA into.
Thompson? Watching him was PAINFUL! Did he forget to take his Aricept tonight or what?
Tancredo. OK. He just seemed so…so…lonely.
Duncan Hunter. Honestly, I think I was fixing a sandwich when he was talking, so I can’t really comment.
Volunteer Voters » Did CNN Exert Too Much Editorial Control Over The Question Content? // November 29, 2007 at 12:57 pm
[...] Nathan Ketsdever viewed the editorial hand of CNN as two strongly visible in the supposedly “voter-generated” YouTube Republican Debate: According to the folks in the YouTube CNN Debate chat at Tech Republican only 1 in the top 40 most watched questions and only 2 of the community counts top questions were asked. I think CNN’s editorial hand played very heavily. If the community can come up with the questions and provide CNN with material, why isn’t it also qualified to. What is the point of it watching the questions before the debate, if CNN ultimately pulls 99.9% of the strings? Its like your parents taking you on a pre-Christmas stroll through the toy section for a selection process and not actually getting anything you picked for the holiday. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages. [...]
Mike // November 29, 2007 at 2:24 pm
Ron Paul won hands down. His message and his execution were perfect in every way.
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