Thursday, July 26, 2007
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GOPers Bail on YouTube Debate?
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Posted by:
Patrick Ruffini at
6:14 PM
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Over the last few hours, I'd been hearing buzz that GOP candidates were going wobbly on the CNN/YouTube debate. I was dismissive. Given the huge earned media hit the Democrats got this week, the fact that even the highly partisan questioners acquitted themselves better than Chris Matthews did in the first debate, and the sponsorship of the powerful Republican Party of Florida, I didn't think the GOP candidates would make the political mistake of passing up it up.
I was apparently wrong. Rudy Giuliani is unlikely to participate, according to an official source.
And Mitt Romney wouldn't commit, dissing the "snowman question."
Mitt Romney didn't like some of the more frivolous trappings and told the New Hampshire Union Leader that "I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman." I would now expect numerous candidates to bail, just like they did at Ames, citing the lack of a frontrunner.
This is a big mistake. The Democrats are afraid to answer questions from Big Bad Fox News Anchors, and the Republicans are afraid to answer questions from regular people. Which is worse?
It's stuff like this that will set the GOP back an election cycle or more on the Internet. No matter the snazzy Web features and YouTube videos they may put up, if they're fundamentally uncomfortable with the idea of interacting with real people online, what's the point?
Having spent the better part of a decade working at the intersection of politics and the Web, I can't help but feel of a deep, deep sense of dismay that we're missing something so basic. This is EXACTLY why I am afraid that we will be outraised by $100 million or more in 2008.
Yes, some of the questions on Monday were trivial. Yes, they were partisan. (I expect many of the 9/17 questioners to be partisan Republicans.) Yes, they were messy. But so is democracy. And the fact that some place so much faith in the broken mainstream media over a benign format like this one says a lot about the difficult straits the Republicans are in right now.
Perhaps the rest of the field will prove me wrong.
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AMERICAblog: A great nation deserves the truth
As I wrote here, it appears that Rudy Giuliani, among others, will not appear at the GOP YouTube debate. This refusal to appear has some in the right-wing worried.The Democrats are afraid to answer questions from Big Bad Fox News Anchors, and the Republicans are afraid to answer questions from regular people. Which is worse? It's stuff like this that will set the GOP back an election cycle or more on the Internet. No matter the snazzy Web features and YouTube videos they may put up, if they're fundamentally uncomfortable with the idea of interacting with real people online, what's the point? (HT: Ross Douthat)
In other news, the Democracy Corps produced a poll that shows the younger generation is turning against the Republican Party. Anyone see a connection?
More from RawStory.
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There's a firey debate on the main Townhall blog. If you haven't jumped in yet, please do so. Here are the links you need to catch up, in order:GOPers Bail on YouTube Debate?Thumbs Down on the GOP YouTube DebateThe Great YouTube Debate, Only on Townhere |
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The buzz around the political blogs has the Republican presidential campaigns backing away from the September YouTube debate. Mitt Romney has publicly sniffed at the notion that serious candidates should take questions from talking snowmen, and Marc Ambinder reports that...here |
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Hugh Hewitt and Patrick Ruffini are having a friendly dustup over whether GOP presidential candidates should skip a CNN-moderated “YouTube” debate of the type just finished by the Democratic candidates. Mr. Hewitt says no, it’s a cir...here |
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In the silliest comment I have read on one of the "big" blogs recently, I give you Josh Marshall:
It's looking like there might not be a GOP CNN/Youtube debate. Rudy appears to be opting out and Mitt Romney doesn't seem far ...here |
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In the silliest comment I have read on one of the "big" blogs recently, I give you Josh Marshall:
It's looking like there might not be a GOP CNN/Youtube debate. Rudy appears to be opting out and Mitt Romney doesn't seem far ...here |
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