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My personal musings about anything that gets on my radar screen--heavily dominated by politics.

2007-07-30

Just to Clarify My Position . . . 

I still think it would be a good idea for the GOP candidates to take part in the CNN/YouTube debate.

Contrary to the impression some might have gotten from the debate my brother and I have been having at this site over the last two days, I still hold to my original position that the Republican candidates have an obligation to engage anywhere, any time, in any format, no matter how stupid. I was simply positing that IF they were going to take Hugh's advice and skip the CNN debate, then there is a way to do it, and that's by going after CNN.

All things considered, though, it would be a lot better to go into the belly of the beast and engage directly. As has been noted elsewhere, the questions are available online, everybody really knows what this is about and what's coming . . . so go face it, and be better than it.

That said, if they were going to go their own direction with my townhall meeting idea, I think it would be difficult for their media brothers--even in this environment--to fail to show footage of the townhall meeting right after they talked about the candidates skipping the CNN debate. Imagine:

Thanks, Phil. In national news, the Republicans held their fourth debate last night in Florida, minus all of the top-tier candidates. [insert footage from the debate] Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney decided to avoid the debate, sponsored by CNN and YouTube, citing doubts about the fairness of CNN and the seriousness of the YouTube questions posed online. When asked about the impression they thought it would make to avoid a tough debate while running on a platform of toughness, neither campaign had any comment.

In other news, Governor Romney and Mayor Giuliani held a locally broadcast, but widely picked-up town hall meeting from Jacksonville, which prominently featured questions from military members stationed in Jacksonville . . .

I like the imagery of that.

Nonetheless, it seems like it's becoming a moot point, as both the Romney and Giuliani campaigns are coming closer to agreeing to the debate on a different date.

Good. Let's see who can be funny and strong and smart and combative in the context of an idiotic event. THAT person will be able to be whatever he needs to be when the job gets hard.
Posted by: Michael / 7/30/2007 11:09:00 PM

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