Debate Questions I'd (Still) Like To Ask

Back in the dim and distant past of this presidential campaign (i.e., February), I wrote a pre-debate column listing questions I would like to hear both Democratic candidates answer. Today's column is a revision of this original. Many of the questions I have are the same, for which I apologize. I don't normally recycle my own material in this fashion, but unfortunately these questions remain largely unanswered, almost two months after the last debate.

As I previously stated, I (of course) have my own biases as to what to ask and what not to ask, so I invite everyone to pose their own questions in response in the comments.

[I have a few specific questions for each candidate, and then a list of questions I'd like to ask both candidates.]

 

Senator Clinton, if you were told a black preacher were giving a sermon next weekend entitled "Why America May Go To Hell," what would your reaction be?

Senator Clinton, a followup question... would you say the same thing if you knew that the preacher in question was the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and that the sermon was the one he was working on when he was assassinated?

 

Senator Obama, given your recent comments on guns, please state exactly where you stand on the Second Amendment, background checks for gun sales, banning assault weapons, and the ban on handguns for the residents of Washington, D.C.

 

Senator Clinton, in the past you have said you were against a constitutional amendment to outlaw burning the American flag, but then you co-sponsored a bill to do exactly that. So where exactly do you stand on the issue? Do you support making flag-burning illegal? Was your past support a mistake? Or were you just positioning yourself to run for president by championing this issue?

 

Senator Obama, you have called for bold leadership in your campaign, but as a state senator you voted "present" rather than for or against a number of bills dealing with some very contentious issues, such as abortion laws and gun control laws. Do you regret not standing up and leading on these issues? Were your past "present" votes a mistake? Were you just using the option of "present" to give yourself political cover, rather than voting the way you felt was right?

 

Senator Clinton, you have said that you have "35 years" of experience. Part of that experience was being First Lady for eight years. When your husband signed NAFTA, was that part of the "experience" that you are proud of? Why did you praise your husband for the achievement of passing NAFTA if you are now opposed to it? Why did you appear at public events supporting it at the time?

 

Senator Obama, you have said we need a new kind of politics to get beyond the old debates in Washington. But unless the Democrats pick up something like ten seats in the Senate, the Republicans will still be able to halt important legislation with cloture votes. If faced with such a deadlock on an important bill you support, exactly how would you resolve it?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, John McCain recently unveiled some tax proposals. I'd like to ask you specifically about two of them. Would you support a law being passed this year to give a "tax holiday" to Americans on their purchases of gasoline this summer? Why or why not?

Senators Clinton and Obama, John McCain also said he supported doubling the personal exemption on income taxes. This would benefit almost everyone who fills out a tax form in America. Do you support this idea or not, and why?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, in campaign speeches you have both been using some version of the line: "Warren Buffett pays a lower rate in taxes than his secretary does." But neither one of you, to the best of my knowledge, has offered a viable solution to this problem. Because Mr. Buffett makes most of his money trading on Wall Street, and his secretary earns an income, their tax rates are going to be different -- which neither of you has fully addressed. So my question to both of you is: do you support taxing capital gains at the same rate as income, yes or no? If you answer "no," please explain why Mr. Buffett's secretary should pay a higher rate in taxes than her boss.

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, given that America will face a dangerous world in the next four years, what qualifications would you look for in your nominations for Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of State?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, would you consider putting a Republican on your Cabinet if you thought they were the most qualified to do the job?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, do you support state legalization of marijuana for medical purposes only? If you do support this concept, would you, as president, change marijuana from being a Schedule I Dangerous Controlled Substance to Schedule II? Schedule I drugs are those that have no medical use whatsoever -- such as LSD and PCP. Schedule II covers dangerous drugs which are tightly controlled, but which may be prescribed by a physician legally -- such as cocaine, methamphetamine, and morphine. So, would you support moving marijuana to Schedule II to stop federal raids on sick people, and to allow doctors to legally prescribe marijuana?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, no matter which of you gets your party's nomination, it appears almost certain that for only the third time in American history, we will be electing someone straight from the United States Senate to the White House. But it doesn't seem as though either one of you has used the bully pulpit of the Senate to champion any of your key issues during your campaign. Please name one issue you've given a speech on in the Senate in the past six months that you feel strongly about. And please give an example of one Senate vote you missed, due to the campaign, that you now regret not being present for.

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, if you become the Democratic nominee, one of the things the Republican candidate is going to attack you on will be "retreating" in Iraq, being in favor of "surrendering to Al Qaeda," and "losing the war on terror." This is not exactly a big secret, it is what Republicans have been saying for years. So how would you answer such "Defeatocrat" charges?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, as president would you restrict the CIA and all other government agencies to only using interrogation techniques described in the Army Field Manual? Or would you continue the Bush policies on torture?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, as president would you continue the Bush administration's policies on warrantless wiretapping? Do you support giving telecommunications companies amnesty for past illegal activities they may have committed in their support of Bush's wiretapping policies?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, if you shut down Guantanamo Bay as a location to hold prisoners, what would you do with the people locked up there? Where would they go? What would happen to them?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, if you become president, what will you do to expose the actions of the Bush administration? You may have the only chance to bring to light a lot of things the Bush folks have been doing, and if you don't do so, history will be full of unanswered questions about his time in office. Will you pledge to deeply investigate wrongdoing by your predecessor, or will you let sleeping dogs lie, and concentrate on the future?

 

Senators Clinton and Obama, I'd like you to picture your first day in the Oval Office. After measuring the place for drapes, what will be your first three actions as president? What are the first three executive orders you will issue on that historic day? In other words, what are your top three priorities for your presidency that can be accomplished by your signature alone?

 

Chris Weigant blogs at: ChrisWeigant.com

 

Comments

[meanguy]

are you kidding? the only allowable questions to the obamessiah are along the lines of 'what's your favorite food?' and 'what is it that makes you so wonderful?'
anyhing else is racist and/or divisive, and we need to get beyond all that...

[trackpad]

Nice work. Some of them are a bit confrontational or "gotcha", but 90% of them are spot on. What was Charles Gibson thinking???

[aflem]

For Sen. Clinton: You are using your experience as a strong point during this campaign. My question to you is, why should I vote for someone with experience in a political system that has failed me and a good portion of Americans as well?

[AjicNYC]

cause its help to know about the system before you BLOW IT UP. Like how we went into the war with not knowing anything about the country!!! HILLARY will know the ins and outs of DC to be most effective in bringing about change.

OBAMA will get nothing DONE!!!!

WHAT HAS HE DONE SO FAR besides to FUND the WAR!!!!!

[aflem]

actually there have been studies done that show that experience isn't always better, in some cases experience makes you screw things up faster. there are flaws in your answer 1 Hilldawg voted for the war that we went into without knowing the country, in fact she didn't even bother reading intelligence reports to base her decision on. 2 historical the most experienced person for president was James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson arguably the 2 of the worst presidents we've had. In between was Abraham Lincoln who in fact was one of the least experienced president and arguably one of our greatest.

[4wehttam]

Why the hell couldn't ABC come up with some of THESE key questions that would better prepare voters to make an informed decision?

Instead they choose a FAUX NOISE version of attack. Sick, just sick.

[CrushInfamy]

Any bureau chief who assigns George Stephanopolus (a former Clinton staffer) to moderate a Clinton/Obama Debate, should be immediately fired and shoved out the door without an opportunity to collect his or her belongings.

That was not a Debate. It was an organized attack. It was unfair, biased and embarrassing. If ever a formal complaint needed to be lodged against a news agency...THIS IS IT.

ABC should issue a formal apology to the American people and suspend both moderaters for 2 weeks without pay.

[thatvisionthing]

HuffPost's Pick

Senators, what would you do about Blackwater, Halliburton, KBR, and the rest of the outside-the-law contractors? Senator Gravel has said he would stop Blackwater's contracts with an executive order. Would you?

[AjicNYC]

BLACKWATER really scares ME!!!!!

[Hullaballoo]

Well, we have now all been officially disappointed. Tabloid questions designed to promote bickering and the few questions on policy or actual "issues" sounded designed to provide Republican campaign talking points (capital gains tax? really? THAT'S the most important issue at a Democratic debate? between two Democrats? really?)

[LizM]

I don't suppose either one of you have figured out what will be required to end the civil war in Iraq and begin to withdraw US forces without leaving the chaos of a failed state in their wake ie. have either of you finally developed a viable and comprehensive strategy to promote and facilitate a sustainable political settlement in Iraq...or are you gonna leave that up to your military commanders, too?

[Michale32086]

DOH!!

I really need to read things more carefully... :^/

"Senators Clinton and Obama, given that America will face a dangerous world in the next four years, what qualifications would you look for in your nominations for Secretary of Defense, and Secretary of State?

Senators Clinton and Obama, would you consider putting a Republican on your Cabinet if you thought they were the most qualified to do the job?"

Those'll do... :D

Michale......

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

Michale -

I considered directly asking them: "Who will you pick as SecDef and SecState?" but (1) I think something as important as this deserves thought and reflection instead of a gotcha question, (2) it think it's a bit early for them to have made up their minds, and (3) I don't think either one would have answered it.

But glad you liked the cabinet questions...

-CW

[LizM]

If you recall, at another debate...way back when...Senator Biden answered the cabinet questions without missing a beat because he had already given it a great deal of thought. He would choose Hagel as his running mate and he would seriously consider Lugar for state. At the time, I thought it spoke volumes...from any number of perspectives!

[Michale32086]

Yea, definitive picks for cabinet positions is probably too much to ask...

When I was an EllTee during the first Iraq War, I had a habit of choosing my immediate subordinate from a pool of people who really disagreed with me... That way, I could be assured that I was getting the full story from both sides of an issue. A little trick I learned from Star Trek.. :D

That is why I am hoping Obama would pick someone like McCain for his SecDef.. McCain's honor and patriotism is above reproach and he would be a great sounding board for Obama...

Michale.....

[Michale32086]

These are excellent questions..

But for the Neo-Con, Right-Wing, Torture-Supporting (and other names I have been called that I can't repeat in mixed company) people like me :D I would like to see Obama questioned closely on who his picks will be for his National Security team..

That is really the only outstanding issue that is preventing me from whole-heartedly supporting Obama..

And I have a feeling that there are a lot of people like me.. Who are, for the most part, extremely liberal, but with a strong military and defense background who really WANT to vote for Obama, but need to have assurances that he will not put our country at grave risk....

Michale....

[Hullaballoo]

HuffPost's Pick

To both senators: We seriously need to ween ourselves off our addiction to (foreign) oil. But we have seen that biofuels such as ethanol made from corn can have a disastrous effect on our food prices as well. What is your position on drilling in our last wild places like ANWR, your stance on ethanol from corn vs. grasses or algae or hemp, your take on nuclear power - and what we do with nuclear waste - and other renewable resources like wind and solar?

[Michale32086]

Excellent statement and question!!

I would love to see this answered...

Michale.....

[erinm]

HuffPost's Pick

All good questions. I take issue with the question for Obama voting present...I thought that issue had been explained ad nauseum but I guess not. In the Illinois legislature, voting present is a common way of the minority protesting or weakening a bill by the majority. He used it 130 times out of 4000..3.2% of the time. Some may have been for politcal cover, but on the whole I don't see the story here...again. The NYT did an excellent article on this: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/us/politics/20obama.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The question about using the senate as a bully pulbit is a bit specious. The Senate doesn't really offer anyone much of an effective bully pulpit...if you do manage to get heard outside the capitol, no matter what you say you are going to be drowned out by the president. Or a presidential candidate...now that is an effective soap box! (is anyone listening to Bush any more?)

But all in all really good questions that I would love to see asked and answered. If they ask about healthcare for the upteenth time I think I will explode! But I expect the bulk of the questions will focus on three things: the gotchas (bitter, Bosnia), Iraq/Iran, and the economy.

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

erinm -

I have seen the "present" issue addressed multiple times, you're right, but I have yet to hear Obama himself asked the question, which is why I included it. It's a "gotcha" question (I added a few of these for both candidates) -- because Obama has to answer with some version of "I was playing politics," which doesn't help his perceived authenticity. It's not a major scandal for Barack, but I do know McCain may use it in the future. Which is why I think it should be asked (and answered) now. I'm not trying to single either of them out, I was pretty fairhanded in divvying up the "nail you to the wall" questions. The media's going to ask some anyway, so I thought I'd provide my own, that's all.

I disagree on Senate speeches, though. You're right, in normal times even Senators have a problem getting anyone to pay attention. But a presidential campaign isn't a normal time. If Hillary gave a speech on some contentious issue (abortion, for instance) on the Senate floor, don't you think it would be on that evening's TV news?

And I share your frustration with the networks. We've seen twenty debates, and they don't have time to ask ANYthing about ANY other subject than health care and Iraq? Sheesh. It's been like watching the same debate over and over again, without ever hearing any questions on some smaller -- but very real -- issues that affect millions of Americans.

Thanks for

[Chris Weigant - Huffpost Blogger]

That last bit got cut off (curses, HuffPost comment word limit!! foiled again!!)

It was meant to read:

Thanks for writing.

-CW

[appleknocker]

Here's one I'd like both candidates to answer: Are you willing to re-examine the doctrine of American global domination, including a rigorous cost/benefit analysis, or do you unquestioningly accept the principle that America must forever rule the world at any cost?

[MPeter]

These are very good questions. I think they are fair and designed to elist information for listeners. Can some one in the stoopid TVland pick them up???? ABC or CBS...whoever you are, ask these questions and advance this national debate. Do not be like CNN and Wolfie or Russert and the Carvilles..snarling like rabid dogs...