GOP Contenders Face YouTube Debate

AP:

Republican presidential candidates faced a crowd of unusual debate questioners Wednesday night -- everyday people who sent in video clips.

CNN and YouTube sponsored the debate, the Republicans' eighth major confrontation of the 2008 campaign

People from across the country submitted more than 3,500 videos posing questions; about 40 were to be broadcast in the unusual gathering six weeks before voting begins.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads in national polls but trails former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire. Romney faces challenges from former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in Iowa, and from Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain in New Hampshire. Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and other lesser-knowns also are participating in the debate.

Read the whole story: AP

Comments

[Nyla785]

Those Republican Debate questioners were SCARY! As well as the questions involved!
Very few questions tackled any REAL issues the general American public cares about, they were just testing how hard each conforms to the GOP ideology?? And is prosecuting women who have abortions REALLY one of the burning issues of the day? In fact, why wouldn't you prosecute them if you're going to prosecute the abortion doctor?? They are at least complicit in consenting to and abetting the crime?? This is just more Republican moral duplicity--and always on the end of controlling women like cattle. And what was that fancy-dancing around the Torture issue?? Looked like they wanted to torture without actually being caught SAYING so.



That Republican Party is ALL ABOUT duplicity and deception of the public and they will NEVER get my vote.

[xrayman]

Thompson always looks down when he talks. He is either not confident or he has something to hide. People want their candidates to look at them (not that "we" had a candidate on the stage last night).

[xrayman]

McCain's attack on Ron Paul shows that he knows nothing of the Libertarian movement. Libertarians think that the only reason for a federal government is to maintain a strong Military.

Bush/McCain have weakened our military to the point that if a Hitler did arise in the world there would be no army left to fight it.

McCain for all his past heroism, does not come down on the right side of this issue.

[StevieRae]

It was sad to watch McCain go through his tired and old "my fellow Americans" soliloquy. His undying faithful support of the "commander-in-chief" and to perpetuating the strategy of fear mongering merely showed his adherence to military protocol and not as a leader worthy of being our President. He looked like Rocky IV coming back for another fight thus diminishing some of his many contributions. Senator McCain, it's time for you to go into the good night and drop your candidacy, and, yes, thank you for your service.

[AxelDC]

GOP Debate Summary:

"I hate immigrants more!" "No, I do!"
"I love Jesus more!" "No, I do!"
"I hate gays more!" "No, I do!"
"I'm more like Bush!" "No, I am!"
"I hate Clinton more!" "No, I do!"
"I will kill more Iraqis!" "No, I will!"

It's like a perverted scene from "Annie Get Your Gun". How did the GOP get so off-track of the party of small government and fiscal responsibility to become the party of big spending, big wars, and theocratic bigotry? The more I see of these Republicans, the more foreign their belief system seems.

[Colmore]

McCain and Thompson both look like they forgot to wear their teeth!! Maybe they were expecting an all-out brawl, and were protecting us taxpayers from footing the bill for expensive dental work. Neither one looks like they have visited a dentist recently. Are repugs. afraid of the dentist? We all know they are afraid to "serve in this just cause".

[ThomasHobbes87]

WHY DO I FEEL LIKE HILLARY SENDS HER MINIONS HERE TO BRAINWASH THE INTELLIGENT AMERICAN PEOPLE?

[WIDESTANCE]

(from the AP article)
Fred Thompson, however, provided what might be the cringe-worthy line of the night. “I think we’ve all had people that we’ve hired that in retrospect was probably a bad decision,” Thompson said.

========================

is anybody online talking about my favorite cringe-worthy takeaway line of the evening which was during the immigration kerfuffle when fred thompson felt obliged to admit that immigrants "are some of our better people..." ???

for me, that was a babs bush astrodome moment of supreme, subconscious condescension

[nunzia]

What was interesting, and saddening, was that audience. There really are people in this country who boo the notion that unprovoked invasion of another country is wrong. People who boo the notion that a man who served his country for decades ought to be accepted in the military as in other countries. People who see no fault in W's many crimes and misdeeds. These are people who do not understand the Constitution and have no idea what America means. So sad. Disgusting.

[win2kpro]

The repuke debate, what a joke.

All of them (excluding Ron Paul) can best be described with this passage for National Lampoons 1989 Christmas. This is for Romney, Giuliani, McCain, Huckabee, Thompson, Tancredo and Hunter.

"What a cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating imbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, spineless, worm-headed, sack of monkey shit, he is. Hallelujah! Holy shit! Where's the tylenol."

How anyone could get excited about seeing any of these flip-floppers as POTUS is absolutely unbelievable. If any of these idiots are elected we will all need more than tylenol.

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

McCain was the only one to mention duhbya and Hitler.
Then he denounced torture.
Then he answered a question on tax and side tracked to how the surge has worked!
He was scattered but tried to remain calm. He was very flustered, he was not sure how the attack on Dr. Paul(neocon threat) would play out. He knows he will not get the nomination anyway, so he threw his remaining eggs in the neocon basket...

Good for you John!
You must have had to kiss some serious neocon ass after what you said about duhbya in 2000 for them to accept you in.
At least you went out with a bang!
You will not be around at the end of the week!

[Qbear]

With insider Grover Norquist getting a question, I'll bet James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, Concerned Women of America will all make a fuss they didn't get a question.

[Qbear]

For all the stink over the Hillary supporter question...there was NO DISCLAIMER when turd-brain traitor Grover Norquist appeared...like that was RANDOM!

[Merg]

CNN of wait is that Time/Warner, I'm not sure but it sounded like their foolishnessl I mean, they start off what is supposed to be a serious debate with a Hootenay quality musical diddy and waste 5 min. of valuble time. How in the world do we get and honest Q & A (God knows this isn't a debate) if ALL participants are not asked the same questions. This goes for Republicans and Democrats. The whole premis is already skewed by CNN or MSNBC before it ever begins, regardless of who is asking the questions....since it is the moderator who decides who actually is asked to ANSWER the question. Mayber we could get FOX (of course, we would have to take up a collection and raise serious money) to ask the 2nd and third tier candidates the same questions as the first tier. (both parties included). Or, better yet, make all tiers of candidates answer the same question, so we would REALLY have some basis to campare. I GET UNDER THIS KIND OF FAIR EXCHANGE, EVEN THE DEMOCRATS WOULD AGREE TO A SPONSORED APPEARANCE. (Well, we certainly could not call it a debate...non of these appearances so far have been actual debates, regardless of the network

[godlessclif]

I saw that and was hoping Anderson Cooper would say the kids parents were gay.
Mitt really blamed gays for ghetto violence.

The Republican crowd was slow
Rudy bashed Mittens about not checking out his employees. No one laughed.
Then Fred Law and Order beat them over the head with it, still no laugh.

When you have to explain a joke it is not funny.