Friday, July 27, 2007

GOP Candidates Afraid of YouTube Questioners?

Apparently so. Only perennial loser John McCain and nutbag Ron Paul have signed up for the GOP YouTube debate. The rest are trying to "no comment" their way past this graveyard.

Mitt Romney even made fun of the format.

In an interview Wednesday with the Manchester (N.H.) Union Leader, Romney said he's not a fan of the CNN/YouTube format. Referring to the video of a snowman asking the Democratic candidates about global warming, Romney quipped, "I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman."

Sure, candidates are free to participate or not in any debate forum they wish. But, as Patrick Ruffini points out, it's hard to slam the Dems for being afraid of FoxNews while the Republican candidates are afraid of questions from ordinary folks.

There's little doubt that the softball questions the Democrat candidates got wouldn't be available for Republican candidates simply because CNN is not that kind to the GOP. But that doesn't mean that Republican candidates couldn't have used the opportunity to score wider points by answering questions they might find uncomfortable. In any event, there's just something smelly about candidates scared to talk to the folks.