Observations on the CNN/YouTube Debates

I wish I were an artist. I can barely draw flies with honey all over my face. But if I were an artist, I would draw a picture reflecting my assessment of the recent CNN/YouTube debate and it would have the Democratic candidates all lined up and a Giant Pink Elephant (or would it be a donkey?) with a podium of his own.

The elephant would be labeled "terrorism" and, some how, it was ignored through out the entire debate. Sure, "we need to pull out of Iraq," but there was no discussion about the forces that got us there nor the series of attacks that the UK has faced in recent weeks and the unusual "home grown" activities we have seen in the US. The more they ignore this issue, the bigger the problem will become in my opinion. This will eventually haunt the Democrats in the not too distant future.

I did not like the way questions were posed to the candidates. Screeners would find a question they would like on YouTube and had individuals posing questions that were some times longer than the period of time candidates were allowed to answer.

Worse still, the questioners clearly had an axe to grind. Candidates have a hard enough time drawing the moral courage to answer honestly when questions are posed with some semblance of neutrality. The questions these candidates heard were full of agendas and the candidates clearly framed the message in a way that accommodated that bias.

YouTube is "young," "hip," and "open minded." I guess that also translates to Democratic, from the way this event was framed. They chose to be on the most liberal cable network and chose to pose questions to the most liberal party. It will be interesting to see how they conduct the Republican debate. So far, they have shown their true ideological colors, in my opinion.