CNN YouTube Democratic Debate Anyone watch it?? I unfortunately only caught the last 45 minutes of it, so I'm planning on watching the replay in 2 hours. I'll reserve personal judgment until then... but anyone else: thoughts on the concept, how it went over, what the candidates had to say, who impressed you, how do you think this will change the political landscape, etc.
Anyone watching this? Clinton looks like the champ of this so far. I missed the first part with Gravel.
Interesting video questions. There was some rednecks and a snowman. Kucinich made the connection between global warming and the war in Iraq, since it's at least partially about fossil fuel resources.
"Would you serve in office for minimum wage?" Great question. They made a dig at Mit Romney for being rich. Obama said most of the candidates were rich.
Chris Dodd sounds like a paranoid freak. I like Joe Biden's directness. He responds to the gun control question really well, saying the YouTube questioner might not be mentally stable enough to own that weapon.
Being that you've supported Hillary from day one, despite not being to explain why, I'd take you comments here with a grain of salt...
I think the concept is both interesting and disturbing. Interesting in that it seems to have livened up a stale and boring process. Disturbing in that it also put the worst (and only foot) of the internet forward. As a journalist, it bothers me in two ways. First of all, it's troubling to me that Youtube, which is internet pond scum, has somehow elbowed its way into the mainstream and gained access to the men and women running for president. Does anyone have any idea what sort of editorial controls are in place over at Youtube, a hub of stolen material, amateurish narcissism and other contemporary tomfoolery that only blossoms in the outlandish realm of the world wide web? Other important questions: How did Youtube pick the questions? Determine their relevancy? Appropriateness? Did it make sure the people asking the questions weren't campaign plants? Or biased against one of the candidates? I doubt it. The second way it bothers/interests me involves some reflection on my business as a whole. Put simply, people will look at and enjoy this debate more than any of the others, because they will see themselves and their concerns addressed more accurately with more genuine emotion by this spartan collection of amateurs than anything put together in any format by my colleagues in the news business. James Fallows captured this perfectly in his book Breaking the News. Reporters, he writes, oftentimes don't ask the questions their audience wants answered. The recent rise of citizen journalism and this sort of interactive forum are the direct result of this failure. As a pro, it's humbling...and ominous...
I think the general consensus is that Hillary won the debate. She was strong and it seemed as if all the other candidates were responding to her. If you don't agree that Hillary won because of someone's personal bias, countezero, who do you believe won the debate?
I think she managed to look presidential, but I'm still undecided. I like Kucinich and Edwards as far as policies. Obama came off as young and inexperienced. I think the YouTube idea was genius. Why shouldn't the people get to ask the questions? YouTube is not a fringe site but a cultural phenomenon. The questions were creative and direct
The concept is great... the very idea of how this debate was going to be structured was enough to get me truly excited for it. I thought it went over very well too. I think there's definitely a lot more meaning from a question on gay marriage when you have 2 lesbians asking, "Can we get married?" opposed to a question on gay marriage asked by a media outlet. It also seemed to me as if the questions very seldom allowed the candidates to pussy-foot around the issue proposed. Anderson did a pretty good job trying to frame the questions as well, keeping the candidates on topic if they ever strayed. I like Edwards' policies the best, but question whether Populism can win a national election. History would tell us no -- lest any Democrat need to mention the name Bob Shrum to prove it. However, I thought Edwards was very strong during the health care discussion last night, including calling Obama out for claiming to have a universal health care plan. And, of course, "I'm not sure about that jacket..." hahaha I agree that Obama looked completely naive with a few of his answers. More and more Obama is looking to me like a charismatic speaker with little substance behind the words. I can't see myself supporting his campaign this early into his political career. He's a freshman senator and it's nice that he doesn't seem jaded by D.C. which allows him to call himself the change necessary in DC. However, I just haven't seen any substantial effort to convey his policies over his rhetoric that has made him so popular. Biden did a great job, I thought; very direct and at times even aggressive. Smart move. A lot of people were up on Richardson after the debate, but I wasn't impressed with anything he had to say... and agreed when Biden called him out for his 6-month plan to get all troops out of Iraq. It's simply not feasible from a logistical point of view to expect to move that many people safely out of that country.
I get the feeling that as president, Biden would be very frank and honest, he says what's on his mind.
