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Monday, July 23, 2007

You Tube Democrat Presidential Election Debate




For the most part this was the first time that I have ever seen such a great debate because the questions were from real people. I have to give CNN some serious kudos for hosting it and especially the folks that contributed questions to the event through You Tube.

I’m not writing this piece to point fingers at who was for what and who had a better plan for any issue. This piece is about the process and what it takes to learn about the candidates you are leaning towards. This was a debate of the candidates like no other before and it was very informative to the voters.

I’ve always questioned the strict formats of the past Presidential election debates where a panel of reporters or only a moderator is asking the questions. Events like that seem canned to me and questionable and the questions presented to the candidates are not coming from the people but a reporter thinking that they know what people want to hear.

Tonight’s debate on CNN was all about the questions from the people that want to know where every single candidate stands on issues that actually effect them as an individual. Real people, real lives, real questions that the responses from the candidates showed the differences amongst them all.

I learned a lot and frankly I was shocked on some of the candidates answers. It never occurred to me that some of these folks are not totally against building new nuclear power plants. I didn’t know that some of the candidates are against scrapping the current No Child Left Behind educational program for our children. I did not know that some of the candidates are very green when it comes to our nations future energy policy. I did not know that the games played to fund political campaigns are still on and one of the candidates wrote legislation making that kind of political donation reportable.

Part of the process of picking a candidate is not just reading what they stand for but understanding where they stand for any given issue. Tonight it was clear who stood for what on several issues from socialized medicine for all and that includes illegal aliens. Confirming plans to sure up Social Security was an interesting point of the night and once again I learned something new when it comes to the cut off point in personal compensation that you no longer have to contribute to the system. Very interesting answers.

War, the war in Iraq was raised and they all have plans. Mix and match but there is a plan from all to bring our troops home from the Democrats and it was amazing to see how each candidate had a different avenue to accomplish the same objective. Passions were raised in each candidate on how soon it should be done but reality was also inserted into the debate on how soon it could actually be done. I for one did not know before tonight’s debate that the Pentagon has refused to answer questions on any plans for a pull out of Iraq? Does that mean that the Pentagon does not have a plan to get our troops out of Iraq? I don’t have that answer but the main stream media will cue up on that response to a grieving You Tube parent that lost a son in Iraq.

Religion and personal belief in God was raised and it was interesting to see that some of the responses clearly made a defined line in the sand that being President comes with the responsibility to know that church and state can not mix. Even Planned Parenthood had a question about teaching your kids on sex. I thought it was inappropriate but it was a legitimate question. I’m sorry to say but all of the candidates failed the question. When one went on the sexual predator trail they all grabbed onto the trolley car and rode it.

Public schools or private schools for their own children was brought up. Most people would think that the children of the candidates all went to private schools. WRONG! Surprised me too. Some did but it seemed more for personal religious choice, security reasons, and educational choice that every parent has. That leads me to ask the hypocrites if it is wrong to seek a better education for your kids if you as a parent choose to do so? I personally would love to enroll all five of my daughters in a Catholic school system. Does that make my political opinion null and void when it comes to public school education? Space shuttle to Houston, we have an educational system problem.

Winners of the debate tonight, you the voter. Many topics were covered and many questions were raised. I for one am very thankful to You Tube and CNN for hosting it. Tonight was not about canned answers to the media but answers to the people selecting a Democrat for President.

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Once again Mat your insight shines through. The political process has become so stale and predictable that this format is a breath of fresh air, whatever shortcomings it has.

The republic was not ill-served by this forum.

12:17 PM  
Blogger Papamoka said...

It looks to me Mike that this is the way of the future. Wolf Blitzer can sit down and shut up while regular folks ask the real questions.

I tell ya, it blew me away how much of difference there really is in all of the candidates. It will be very interesting to see how much difference there is in the Republicans.

6:37 PM  

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