YouTube Users Put Candidates on the Spot

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/07/24/youtube-users-put-candidates-on-the-spot/

by Seth Michaels, Jul 24, 2007

Would the Democratic hopefuls be willing to work for minimum wage if they were elected president? The question came not from a pundit or a news anchor but from Cecilia and Asanti, two friends from Pennsylvania.

This unusual question elicited illuminating answers. Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) acknowledged it was easy for most of those on the stage to say “Yes,” because they were financially secure anyway. For most people, though, the minimum wage isn’t adequate. “We don’t have Mitt Romney money,” Obama said, eliciting laughter, “but we could afford to do it for a few years. Most folks can’t.” Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd admitted that working at the minimum wage, he’d worry about the cost of educating his two daughters.



Last night’s Democratic debate was full of telling, unscripted moments because all the questions came from YouTube users who got to ask tough questions about their personal concerns. Confronted by ordinary people (and, in one case, a cartoon snowman), the candidates opened up, departed from their stump speeches and interacted with each other.

The format was more entertaining than most presidential debates. Viewers got to see questions that weren’t watered down by the usual media filters. Delivered by people right to the camera, the questions were by turns touching, funny, uncomfortable and angry. They elicited these same human qualities from the candidates themselves.

As a result, viewers witnessed genuine disagreements between the candidates, not just on style, but on policy. On education, while Dodd proposed reforms to the No Child Left Behind Act, Gov. Bill Richardson (N.M.) said he’d scrap it entirely. Obama and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) disagreed over whether universal health coverage required mandates. No two candidates gave quite the same answer on how quickly it was possible to withdraw from Iraq.

FULL story at link.

[snowbear]

1. What does that chart mean?

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[tech3149]

2. I think it means pretty much what it says

It's just a breakdown of how much airtime each person got during the "debate". It gives a pretty good indication of how corporate media focuses attention toward the official candidates. Why wait for the primaries? We can choose the candidates without you having to bother your pretty little head.