CNN/YouTube GOP Debate

[manasecret]

Originally Posted by Professor S

Well... it certainly was interesting, even if unenlightening. The only thing that CNN proved last night is that they have a definite preformed idea of what they think the Republican Party is made of:

1) Gun nuts
2) Racist Confederate Flag Wavers
3) Bible Beaters

The questions that were chosen were so ignorant and without substance that the candidates essentially had to take them in different directions. Even Anderson Cooper had to add his own questions to them to make them halfway decent.

First off, here's the link to all of the questions and answers from the Republican YouTube debate.

http://www.youtube.com/republicandebate

Compare them to the questions at the Democratic debate.

http://www.youtube.com/democraticdebate

By reading the questions, I agree that overall the Republicans got some tougher questions. I didn't get to see the debate, but I'll be watching it on YouTube hopefully tonight.

Secondly, CNN didn't make up the questions, YouTube users did. If you thought they were "ignorant and without substance" then blame YouTube users, not CNN. And might I ask if you yourself submitted a question? If you had a problem with the questions, I suggest next time you do submit one. Isn't that the whole point?

You can say that CNN probably chose the ones to fulfill their agenda, but you don't know that they did or that they didn't (unless there's a link to all of the submitted questions that didn't get chosen?). To say something like "of course they did" just shows your bias against CNN and nothing else.

I read on CNN before the debate (unfortunately I can't find the link now) that they were choosing questions to represent subjects that a lot of the submitted questions had asked about. And it makes sense that the questions submitted were tougher for Republicans, considering some conservatives accuse YouTube of liberal bias.

I personally don't like how CNN gets to choose the questions, because it certainly injects the possibility of CNN bias. Number one, that tarnishes the whole point of "us" asking the questions, instead of CNN, and number two it lets people like you write off the questions as CNN bias instead of YouTube user-bias -- or us-bias.

Now that the debate is over, I think they should release all of the submitted questions that didn't get chosen. That way we can see for ourselves if they chose a bunch of singular questions instead of questions more people asked. It would improve the debate format.