Becuase Everything Else Sucks

CNN/YouTube Democratic Debates

By Manila Ryce
Published Tuesday, July 24th, 2007, 5:28 am
Filed under: Videos: Political, Videos, US Politics

I’m interested in hearing your opinions on this debate. As usual, I have no idea what’s so appealing about the top-tier candidates unless their popularity can be attributed to a fear of change, as there is comfort in the status quo. And though the questions and time to respond were not evenly divided amongst the candidates, as they were in the PBS debates, the questions themselves were much more concise and substantial than anything a CNN journalist would ask. While much was left to be desired, there was a noticeable improvement from the last CNN beauty contest.


Chris Dodd impressed me, as did Richardson to a certain degree. I think these two finally started to feel more comfortable than they had in previous public appearances. I like Gravel’s ideas, but the confrontational style which won my heart in the first debate is wearing thin. Then again, I’d rather see him be a thorn in the side of the top-tier candidates until election time than to see him adopt a less courageous mentality. And since he was hardly called upon, and cut short when he was, he has even more of a right to be pissed. I just wish he’d focus a bit more on his own policies than on the corrupt practices we know Obama and Hillary participate in.

Kucinich, of course, is the man. He gave it to everyone straight, especially on gay MARRIAGE (an issue which only he and Gravel are for). Anderson Cooper’s zinger to Kucinich during the last question is classic when he says it wouldn’t be possible to find anyone to the left of Dennis. Kucinich counters this apparent dismissal by saying he’s actually the most mainstream on the war, health care, and trade. So if the most left-wing candidate is actually the most mainstream, where does that place the other Democratic candidates on the political spectrum? I thought that was a particularly good note to end the debate on.

Part 1 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 2 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 3 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 4 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 5 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 6 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 7 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 8 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 9 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 10 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 11 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Part 12 of 12

WPvideo 1.10

Related Posts

5 Responses to “CNN/YouTube Democratic Debates”

  1. Last night’s format represented a giant leap forward and upwards as far as setting a new standard for presidential debates. A crucial question is (remains) whose unseen hands select the questions as well as who moderates? Anderson Cooper did very well.

    Yes, the downside is so few questions were given to the true truth-speaking Progressives, Kucinich and Gravel. This is demonstrated here.

    Vigilante
    07/24/07 at 9:11 am

  2. I LOVE fierce, fearless, and honest Mike Gravel. Although he, like Dennis Kucinich, remains continuously marginalized in these debates, it is from these margins that REAL concensus will eventually formulate.

    This particular YouTube format, where questions are prepared with a certain amount of actual, transparent thought behind them, throws much needed light on the standard, intentionaly opaque responses coming from the mainstream candidates.

    Thanks for posting the videos online for those of us who don’t care to receive the message through the mouthpiece of the prevailing media.

    Inothatcat
    07/24/07 at 10:07 am

  3. I like the idea of citizens asking the politicians the questions themselves (which prevents smarmy reporters from rephrasing them in establishment-friendly format), and I appreciated the demand by the questioners and the moderator that the candidates actually answer the questions.

    However, it wasn’t much different than the other debates. CNN did its job. The debate still came across as infotainment. The fringe candidates were marginalized. The mainstream candidates had plenty of time to recite their focus-group-developed talking points.

    I’m glad Gravel called out Obama, though it’s sad to see how little traction this seems to have with establishment Democrats. If it were instead Obama pointing out that Romney or some other GOP candidate was receiving campaign contributions from a foreign bank, I can imagine words like “treason” and “traitor” being thrown around. But criticizing mainstream Dems is something we’re not allowed to do.

    Still, the debate was a step in the right direction. The questioners were refreshingly cynical.

    Sam
    07/24/07 at 7:01 pm

  4. I couldn’t understand some parts of this article YouTube Democratic Debates - The Largest Minority, but I guess I just need to check some more resources regarding this, because it sounds interesting.

    Daniel
    08/7/07 at 6:32 pm

  5. […] light of the recent childish bickering between Obama and Clinton regarding diplomacy, post-YouTube/CNN debate, it’s worth noting that Dennis Kucinich met with President Assad of Syria on Sunday to diffuse […]

    Kucinich Wins Presidential Poll on John Edwards’ Own Site | The 35 Percenters
    09/5/07 at 6:46 am

Leave a Reply

Tired of filing this information out everytime you leave a comment at the Largest Minority? Why not register as a user? You also get full access to our forum!

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>