Especially for a Republican, walking into an MTV production to face a crowd full of college students could be plenty risky. Young people obviously lean left, but I hope to hear some fair questions of McCain nonetheless. Of course, McCain's a good guy to take a crack at this. He's got a certain amount of street cred, lots of experience, and a good sense of humor.
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Gideon Yago, to his credit, told the audience to be respectful of the Senator saying, "this guy's running for the highest office in the land, and I hope you'll show him the respect he deserves. I think we all know what I mean by respect."
Update: McCain flubs his first joke, "I'm older than dirt and have more scars than Frankenstein," switching it around, "I'm older than Frankenstein...and, uhh, messed up that line." The audience laughs.
Predictably, the first question is about global warming, and McCain touts green technology and nuclear energy. I wonder that they ever get anything other than global warming questions out of a crowd this age. You could hear the collective, "Damn, he took my question," in the wake of that first one.
Update: McCain says "Saddam Hussein" instead of Osama bin Laden when talking about Osama releasing a recent tape. He follows with, "Not Saddam. He's no longer with us, thank God," which gets applause. I'm pleasantly surprised by the applause.
Update: How to demagogue, with Gideon Yago!
Disclosure: MySpace paid my way to cover this event tonight.
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