GOPers Bail on YouTube Debate?
by Patrick Ruffini :: July 26th, 2007 7:16 pm Over the last few hours, I’d been hearing buzz that GOP candidates were going wobbly on the CNN/YouTube debate. I was dismissive. Given the huge earned media hit the Democrats got this week, the fact that even the highly partisan questioners acquitted themselves better than Chris Matthews did in the first debate, and the sponsorship of the powerful Republican Party of Florida, I didn’t think the GOP candidates would make the political mistake of passing up it up.
I was apparently wrong. Rudy Giuliani is unlikely to participate, according to an official source.
And Mitt Romney wouldn’t commit, dissing the “snowman question.”
Mitt Romney didn’t like some of the more frivolous trappings and told the New Hampshire Union Leader that “I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman.”
I would now expect numerous candidates to bail, just like they did at Ames, citing the lack of a frontrunner.
This is a big mistake. The Democrats are afraid to answer questions from Big Bad Fox News Anchors, and the Republicans are afraid to answer questions from regular people. Which is worse?
It’s stuff like this that will set the GOP back an election cycle or more on the Internet. No matter the snazzy Web features and YouTube videos they may put up, if they’re fundamentally uncomfortable with the idea of interacting with real people online, what’s the point?
Having spent the better part of a decade working at the intersection of politics and the Web, I can’t help but feel of a deep, deep sense of dismay that we’re missing something so basic. This is EXACTLY why I am afraid that we will be outraised by $100 million or more in 2008.
Yes, some of the questions on Monday were trivial. Yes, they were partisan. (I expect many of the 9/17 questioners to be partisan Republicans.) Yes, they were messy. But so is democracy. And the fact that some place so much faith in the broken mainstream media over a benign format like this one says a lot about the difficult straits the Republicans are in right now.
Perhaps the rest of the field will prove me wrong.
Tagged: mitt romney 
online politics rudy giuliani youtube
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Patrick,
We worked together briefing at DOE years ago - right before you went to work for Mike Turk! I am actually trying to track down Mike. I understand he is working with Fred Thompson and I know some folks from TEnn. who I’d like to introduce to Miek who worked with Fred previously…..
Please let me (or him!) know how to reconnect!
Thanks much.
Laura Rodin
CIO/DOE (retired, 2006)…
Normally I agree with you Patrick. And as the White House E-communications director from 2001 - 2004, I fought very strongly while in the White House to do a lot of online video. And we did a lot — but I could never get the President to do an online video “Ask the White House.” Came close, but no cigar.
We still did a lot of online chats. We had a lot of online staff video. Of course, BarneyCam. And a lot of other video features.
While at Governor Schwarzenegger’s office, I was able to get the Governator to do some live online video Q & A’s over his web site. That was great. Real questions from real people and moderated by a credible journalist. And there is no one better to interface with the public than Governor Schwarzenegger. He’s incredible in this medium.
I guess the difference for me was the embrace of wackiness the other night. I didn’t appreciate it. I thought it trivialized the campaign.
Like you, I’ve spent a lot of time in this universe. I’ve focused on Internet and the Politics for 10 years ago, having given my first speech on Communicating over the Internet in the Political World at the National Governor’s Association annual summer meeting in Las Vegas back in 1997.
So, I’m all about using the Internet smartly. All about it.
But for me, isn’t there a smarter way to do it that isn’t so gimmicky? I don’t know — I thought the YouTube/CNN debate the other night was unpresidential.
Personally, I’m glad Rudy opted out. And I’m glad it looks like Romney isn’t going to participate. Right or Left. Republican or Democrat. There’s a way to participate in the Internet without going low-brow. There’s too much at stake.
Maybe I’m just getting old. : )
I must say I agree wholeheartedly that skipping this debate is a terrible idea. And that holds even if we stipulate that, through their choice of questions, CNN and YouTube’s editorial team ensures that the Republican candidates face more difficult or embarassing questions than the Democrats did.
I think Giuliani and Romney are worried that they will be on the receiving end of very challenging questions from sympathetic questioners. What are the odds that Giuliani gets a question about his lack of concern for the health of those working on the cleanup at the World Trade Center site from someone, perhaps a firefighter, who worked there and has been diagnosed with health problems as a result of this work? I’m sure that there is a similar scenario for Romney.
However, it’s still really stupid to skip the debate. For example, CNN might show the questions they would have asked of the candidates who didn’t attend. In that case, it’s the worst of both world’s. Everyone sees the implicitly (or explicitly) critical question from the sympathetic questioner and, since the candidate isn’t there to respond, not only will the criticism assume the status of truth in the eyes of many viewers, but the candidate will be seen as unwilling to answer tough questions.
It’s much better, in my view, for these candidates and their campaign teams to anticipate these questions as best they can and prepare their most able responses. Ideally, they totally deflect the criticism. At the very least, they get a tiny bit of credit for submitting to tough questions.
Finally, given the peculiar dynamics of this campaign, I think it is an especially bad idea for Giuliani and Romney to indicate that they are skipping this debate now. It gives Fred Thompson the opportunity, should he enter the race in early September, to score points by announcing that he, unlike certain other popular candidates, is more than happy to answer the questions of regular Americans and will participate in the YouTube debate. At that point, unless they want to let Thompson win just by showing up, those candidates who previously announced their intention to skip the debate will be forced to change their minds. These candidates will look really foolish and Thompson will still win the news cycle (and probably the debate unless he performs very poorly or another candidate performs exceptionally well).
O.k. - I’m not sure the Romney’s really afraid of answering questions from “real people” - after all - he has held those “Ask Mitt Anything” forums in Iowa.
Unless those are all staged.
I’m wondering if there’s some other problem - or they feel like the questions will be loaded.
The resume’ and accomplishments should be the main focus of selecting a candidate. The crafted ’stay on message’ theatrics of campaigns unfortunately account for the lion’s share of how election outcomes are determined.
Ever since Howard Dean’s campaign successfully leveraged the power of the internet, the Dems have been trying to repeat the performance excluding the career ending rant.
The CNN/YouTube is of more benefit to the sponsors than the electorate. It is just another way to package the BS of traditionally staged political debates.
It is as if the ordinary voter wants to be lied to in a manner that supports their view of how the world should be. In other words, comfort me and I’ll vote for you.
I don’t entirely get this, but it reminds me of why I am not a Republican, even if I vote that way. Candidates do put their necks on the line to enter into these events, sure. But if they can’t handle tough questions on their records or provide convincing arguments for why they disagree with leftish premises, how do they figure on winning in the general election?
I mean, infantile squeaky snowmen don’t exactly seem threatening to me in a day and age where folks wearing bizarre costumes threaten to commit mass slaughter on us just because we refuse to submit to their totalitarian ideologies. Were some of the YouTube queries frivolous? Certainly. But how do the conservatives hope to stop losing ground against Democrats by pondering the finer points of conservatism in their own echo chamber?
Are they counting on the MSM suddenly to call the idea that government can do everything better into question? What a joke. But it’s one that I can’t seem to laugh at.
Heh - I hope ALL the GOP offerings bail. Between that and the stalwart stupidity from their contingent in the Senate, the GOP will be on par with the Pinky Lee party as far as political relevance goes come 2008!
[…] Republican online strategist Patrick Ruffini writes, It’s stuff like this that will set the GOP back an election cycle or more on the Internet. No matter the snazzy Web features and YouTube videos they may put up, if they’re fundamentally uncomfortable with the idea of interacting with real people online, what’s the point? […]
[…] I think that means I have changed my mind on this. Let the debate go on! I guess that I am with Patrick Ruffini on this. […]
[…] Is the GOP too good for you…tube? Patrick Ruffini writes that the Republican candidates are starting to get cold feet when it comes to the YouTube debate. Rudy Giuliani is unlikely to participate because of “scheduling conflicts” (what’s he got to do other than run for president) and Mitt Romney thinks the debate was kind of cheezy. […]
[…] I couldn’t agree more with Patrick Ruffini’s reaction to the news that one or more of the leading Republican candidates for Presidents are planning to skip the September 17 CNN / YouTube debate. […]
[…] Reaction among conservative bloggers is mixed, with not all defending the GOP candidates. Patrick Ruffini writes: This is a big mistake. The Democrats are afraid to answer questions from Big Bad Fox News Anchors, and the Republicans are afraid to answer questions from regular people. Which is worse? […]
[…] Just caught wind of this from fellow TechRepublican.com bloggers, Patrick Ruffini and David All. Apparently some of the GOP frontrunners are getting cold feet about making this appearance. […]
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