GOP Candidate Fear Of YouTube?

31 July 2007 |permalink | email article

Unlike the Democrats, some GOP presidential candidates are queasy about appearing in the CNN/YouTube debate scheduled for Sept. 17 in Florida because of conflicts and concern about the format which involves direct questions from voters.

While Ron Paul, John McCain, Tommy Thompson and Mike Huckabee confirmed that they would participate, the two candidates with the most to lose - Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney – came up with some lame reasoning.

The former New York City mayor said he had potential scheduling conflicts while the ex-Massachusetts governor’s excuse boarded on the ludicrous.

Romney said it could be demeaning for presidential candidates to “answer questions from a snowman,” a reference to a video question that was asked of Democratic presidential candidates in their debate July 23.

Several prominent Republican bloggers, the New York Times reported, were urging all the candidates to stay in. The more savvy ones understand the online advantage the Democrats have gained, notably in fund-raising, because of the hugely successful new format.

So guess what? CNN called the Republicans’ bluff, scrubbed the Sept. 17 debate and will announce a new date. By then, Fred Thompson, when not churning out hard-line conservative blogs, may find time to join the battle.

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** YouTube views among Republicans as of Monday night showed Paul (2,246 million); Romney (1,474 million); Giuliani (537,860) and McCain (499,180).

** A question in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine for McCain:

“Now that your presidential campaign is falling apart and approaching bankruptcy, the consensus is that you’re finished. But some of us have faith in your ability to reinvent yourself, especially since the other Republican candidates don’t exactly stand out.”

McCain replied, “Don’t’ put words in my mouth, darling. Listen, I’m sure that in the fall, when people are focused, I’ll out-campaign them. I can do the town-hall meetings, the kind that wins campaigns.”

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