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Youtube Caucus Debates Prohibit Gay Marriage/Abortion Questions

Zephyr_FateZephyr_Fate Registered User regular
edited November 2007 in Debate and/or Discourse
As you may have heard, Youtube is participating in a sort-of questionnaire of each of the potential candidates for the '08 election. Many videos have been put up with various users questioning candidates of their political stance on certain issues like the Iraq War, immigration, and other hot issues. However, through a post on the Caucus blog, CNN is having any videos that ask questions about gay marriage or abortion taken off of Youtube... calling them "lobbying grenades". This is done just for the Republican party, because these issues are "Democratic 'gotchas'".

Apparently gay people shouldn't have a voice on Youtube, and we cannot have a "debate of their party" if we happen to mention our rights.

You can read more here:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/sneak-peek-at-cnnyoutube-debate-videos/

What do you all think?

Zephyr_Fate on
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    ElkiElki get busy Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited November 2007
    There was a question from a lesbian couple in the last youtube debate, wasn't there? Is this something they added just for the Republican youtube debate?

    Elki on
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    Zephyr_FateZephyr_Fate Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    It's specifically for the Republican debate, yes.

    Zephyr_Fate on
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    GorakGorak Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    I can understand them vetting the questions, but to remove all questions seems a little over the top. I'd have thought that within the Republican party there are going to be people with different views on this even if it's only how to tackle the "problem".

    Gorak on
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    reVersereVerse Attack and Dethrone God Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Well, it's a party full of homophobes, so it makes sense that they don't want to discuss anything related to homosexuality.

    reVerse on
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    ChurchChurch Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    "Lobbying grenades"? Yeah, I can see that, insofar as questioning ending with "Oops! You're a bigot!"

    But I don't think that you should prohibit any line of questioning in a political questionnaire on the grounds that the candidate's answer may harm his candidacy.

    'cause, you know... That's not how politics is supposed to work.

    Church on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    HooraydiationHooraydiation Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    "If you knew your unborn child would grow up to legalize gay marriage, would you have an abortion?"

    Hooraydiation on
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    Zephyr_FateZephyr_Fate Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    HAHAHA, that's a good one!

    Zephyr_Fate on
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    whitey9whitey9 Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Gorak wrote: »
    I can understand them vetting the questions, but to remove all questions seems a little over the top. I'd have thought that within the Republican party there are going to be people with different views on this even if it's only how to tackle the "problem".

    The strength of the Republican party is NOT having different views. Say there are ten issues that matter to voters, and the Republican party sways a certain way on all ten. Then their is a Republican candidate that matches the party's views in 9 out of 10 issues. BZZT! TOO BAD! Get someone that matches in 10 OUT OF 10!

    Really, when you think about it, it's the best way to go as a major political party. Had they not had so many fuckups, they'd probably be doing pretty good still.

    These youtube debates are as scripted and vanilla as they get. 10 to 1 someone throws them a softball like "BOXERS OR BRIEFS, TEE HEE!"

    Jesus fucking christ.

    whitey9 on
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    ThanatosThanatos Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    None of them claim to disagree on either of those issues, so they really don't make for very good debate questions, anyhow. They may as well ban gun control questions, too, because those are the three issues on which every candidate in the Republican party is going to agree.

    Thanatos on
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    PicardathonPicardathon Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    It's specifically for the Republican debate, yes.

    "There is a relation between homophobia and membership in the Republican party, story at 11"
    Though really, it would just end up with Huckabee calling Guliani a godless bastard, and that would honestly be too entertaining for public audiences.

    Picardathon on
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    Satan.Satan. __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2007
    "If you knew your unborn child would grow up to legalize gay marriage, would you have an abortion?"
    How is this a constructive question? You're mixing up two issues in an incredibly inflammatory matter. You're just being a smart-ass and you're trying to bash the candidate, not debate issues. The answer wouldn't change much through the Republicans, either. As it's been mentioned, the Republicans are incredibly strong in the base beliefs.

    I don't really see this as a "trampling our rights" thing. I see it more as "we would like to hear some differing answers" thing.

    Satan. on
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    SamSam Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Church wrote: »
    "Lobbying grenades"? Yeah, I can see that, insofar as questioning ending with "Oops! You're a bigot!"

    But I don't think that you should prohibit any line of questioning in a political questionnaire on the grounds that the candidate's answer may harm his candidacy.

    'cause, you know... That's not how politics is supposed to work.

    i lol'd

    Sam on
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    ChurchChurch Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    "If you knew your unborn child would grow up to legalize gay marriage, would you have an abortion?"

    Done.

    Church on
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    edited November 2007
    CNN is having any videos that ask questions about gay marriage or abortion taken off of Youtube... calling them "lobbying grenades". This is done just for the Republican party, because these issues are "Democratic 'gotchas'".

    Liberal media?

    ahahahahahahahahahaha

    Feral on
    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
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    AroducAroduc regular
    edited November 2007
    Do I really have to be the one to point out the obvious here?
    Most questions online have been pulled from public viewing for review, but many of the remaining posts involve asking the candidates to defend their opposition to gay marriage and abortion.

    They're pulling the accepted ones to throw together into their montage or 'debate' thing or whatever and leaving the other ones, not removing them. There is no censorship, no hanky panky, and if you think that a debate between republicans is going to center around gay marriage or abortion, then you're simply naive. All they're doing is not using those. Whoopie doo.

    Aroduc on
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    SamSam Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Aroduc wrote: »
    Do I really have to be the one to point out the obvious here?
    Most questions online have been pulled from public viewing for review, but many of the remaining posts involve asking the candidates to defend their opposition to gay marriage and abortion.

    They're pulling the accepted ones to throw together into their montage or 'debate' thing or whatever and leaving the other ones, not removing them. There is no censorship, no hanky panky, and if you think that a debate between republicans is going to center around gay marriage or abortion, then you're simply naive. All they're doing is not using those. Whoopie doo.

    i lol'd
    p.s, systematically excluding questions based on topicality isn't quite censorship if the videos aren't deleted, it's just showboating in the name of so called "democratized media" or whatever other buzzword they use for video hosting sites. YouTube is incredible, but its really just the forerunner brand out of services that started taking off this decade as a result of expanded broadband penetration. It is also, to the delight of PR people everywhere, a perfect farm for viral content, which they can manipulate as normal for their own purposes.
    TL;dr- Youtube serves the same purpose that contrived television debates do, except it provides the experience of another media barrier broken and the promise of voice and interactivity for the average people on a scale that seems bigger than before.

    Sam on
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    DetharinDetharin Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    Detharin on
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    Satan.Satan. __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2007
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.
    I believe the entire position of the Republicans is "no gay marriage, no abortion". Seriously. If this thread is actually alive later, I'll go to every candidate's website and identify their views to outline them here.

    Also, Sam, don't be cute and spoiler what was your entire argument in that post. Be up front with your opinion.

    Satan. on
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    whitey9whitey9 Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    The Republican stance is no and fuck no. The Democratic stance usually tends to be "I'm opposed to it personally, but it shouldn't be illegal.". Having their cake and eating it too. You could run for almost any public office on the platform of outlawing abortion and banning gay marriage and get a disturbing amount of votes.

    The last numbers I saw, more people were pro-choice, but pro-choice people don't vote in the numbers that the lifers do.

    whitey9 on
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    MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    whitey9 wrote: »
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    The Republican stance is no and fuck no. The Democratic stance usually tends to be "I'm opposed to it personally, but it shouldn't be illegal.". Having their cake and eating it too. You could run for almost any public office on the platform of outlawing abortion and banning gay marriage and get a disturbing amount of votes.

    The last numbers I saw, more people were pro-choice, but pro-choice people don't vote in the numbers that the lifers do.

    We've had some real stinkers in the white house, but none quite like Bush. I think many of the people who are usually apathetic are going to come out and vote just to help reduce the chances of us getting another one like him.

    MKR on
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    AbsoluteZeroAbsoluteZero The new film by Quentin Koopantino Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    On the one hand, it's highly lame that CNN is in effect censoring this stuff, essentially in favor of the republicans.

    On the other hand, are abortions and gay marriage the real issues we should be concerned about? I don't know if you guys have noticed, but the value of the US dollar has seriously fucking tanked and that is very very bad for the entire country.

    AbsoluteZero on
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    nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    whitey9 wrote: »
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    The Republican stance is no and fuck no. The Democratic stance usually tends to be "I'm opposed to it personally, but it shouldn't be illegal.". Having their cake and eating it too. You could run for almost any public office on the platform of outlawing abortion and banning gay marriage and get a disturbing amount of votes.

    The last numbers I saw, more people were pro-choice, but pro-choice people don't vote in the numbers that the lifers do.

    If the GOP has such a hardline stance against gays why would they not want to talk about it in public?

    Seems like the Dems aren't the only ones trying to have their cake and eat it too on the issue

    nexuscrawler on
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    Satan.Satan. __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2007
    whitey9 wrote: »
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    The Republican stance is no and fuck no. The Democratic stance usually tends to be "I'm opposed to it personally, but it shouldn't be illegal.". Having their cake and eating it too. You could run for almost any public office on the platform of outlawing abortion and banning gay marriage and get a disturbing amount of votes.

    The last numbers I saw, more people were pro-choice, but pro-choice people don't vote in the numbers that the lifers do.

    If the GOP has such a hardline stance against gays why would they not want to talk about it in public?

    Seems like the Dems aren't the only ones trying to have their cake and eat it too on the issue
    The point of a debate is to discover differences between candidates on an issue. The Republicans across the board aren't going to flinch on gay marriage. That's political suicide if you have "-R" at the end of your title. I'm betting the origin of this idea is "we don't need to waste time with this".

    Satan. on
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    AngelHedgieAngelHedgie Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    whitey9 wrote: »
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    The Republican stance is no and fuck no. The Democratic stance usually tends to be "I'm opposed to it personally, but it shouldn't be illegal.". Having their cake and eating it too. You could run for almost any public office on the platform of outlawing abortion and banning gay marriage and get a disturbing amount of votes.

    The last numbers I saw, more people were pro-choice, but pro-choice people don't vote in the numbers that the lifers do.

    The Democratic stance is best described in three words: Safe. Legal. Rare. What that means is that we shouldn't outlaw abortion, but at the same time make it uncommon by giving mothers options and support.

    AngelHedgie on
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    Wonder_HippieWonder_Hippie __BANNED USERS regular
    edited November 2007
    Feral wrote: »
    CNN is having any videos that ask questions about gay marriage or abortion taken off of Youtube... calling them "lobbying grenades". This is done just for the Republican party, because these issues are "Democratic 'gotchas'".

    Liberal media?

    ahahahahahahahahahaha

    I had this exact same reaction.

    Wonder_Hippie on
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    FeralFeral MEMETICHARIZARD interior crocodile alligator ⇔ ǝɹʇɐǝɥʇ ǝᴉʌoɯ ʇǝloɹʌǝɥɔ ɐ ǝʌᴉɹp ᴉRegistered User regular
    edited November 2007
    By the way, for those of you saying "gay rights doesn't matter in a Republican debate because all Republicans feel the same way," a gay marriage question would be the perfect opportunity to catch Rudy Giuliani in a highly publicized flip-flop. Also, Huckabee and McCain have opposed federal gay marriage bans and have called gay marriage a states rights issue (though I don't know if they've since reversed their positions). They're not all carbon copies of one another.

    No, this is a completely transparent attempt to shield the Republican party from having to face their weakest issue.

    Feral on
    every person who doesn't like an acquired taste always seems to think everyone who likes it is faking it. it should be an official fallacy.

    the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
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    MKRMKR Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    "It's a state issue" is a weak excuse. It's not exactly unprecedented to give minorities rights in federal laws.

    MKR on
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    GorakGorak Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    MKR wrote: »
    "It's a state issue" is a weak excuse. It's not exactly unprecedented to give minorities rights in federal laws.

    Doesn't the argument of "states rights" also invite comparisons with interracial marriage. I thought one of the reasons for that being extended into the southern states was because the federal government mandated that a marriage in one state should be recognized in another.

    Disclaimer: I'm English, post based on vague recollections.

    Gorak on
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    whitey9whitey9 Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    whitey9 wrote: »
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    The Republican stance is no and fuck no. The Democratic stance usually tends to be "I'm opposed to it personally, but it shouldn't be illegal.". Having their cake and eating it too. You could run for almost any public office on the platform of outlawing abortion and banning gay marriage and get a disturbing amount of votes.

    The last numbers I saw, more people were pro-choice, but pro-choice people don't vote in the numbers that the lifers do.

    The Democratic stance is best described in three words: Safe. Legal. Rare. What that means is that we shouldn't outlaw abortion, but at the same time make it uncommon by giving mothers options and support.

    While that may be the Democratic party stance, the incumbents frequently take the route of "I don't like it, but it should be legal". Go look at what Kerry said when he was running for the president. It's such a limp-dick answer to the issue.

    Simply making it illegal isn't going to solve shit. Safe, rare, and legal is really the only [realistic] answer.

    My guess as to why they won't allow these questions, is that the candidates aren't fully researched on the subject and don't really want to be put on the spot. Nobody says you need to be pro-life and intelligent about it, pro-life is good enough.

    whitey9 on
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    LanzLanz ...Za?Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    whitey9 wrote: »
    whitey9 wrote: »
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    The Republican stance is no and fuck no. The Democratic stance usually tends to be "I'm opposed to it personally, but it shouldn't be illegal.". Having their cake and eating it too. You could run for almost any public office on the platform of outlawing abortion and banning gay marriage and get a disturbing amount of votes.

    The last numbers I saw, more people were pro-choice, but pro-choice people don't vote in the numbers that the lifers do.

    The Democratic stance is best described in three words: Safe. Legal. Rare. What that means is that we shouldn't outlaw abortion, but at the same time make it uncommon by giving mothers options and support.

    While that may be the Democratic party stance, the incumbents frequently take the route of "I don't like it, but it should be legal". Go look at what Kerry said when he was running for the president. It's such a limp-dick answer to the issue.

    Simply making it illegal isn't going to solve shit. Safe, rare, and legal is really the only [realistic] answer.

    My guess as to why they won't allow these questions, is that the candidates aren't fully researched on the subject and don't really want to be put on the spot. Nobody says you need to be pro-life and intelligent about it, pro-life is good enough.

    How on earth is "I don't like it, but it should be legal" a "limp-dick" answer? O_o


    I don't like smoking, but I'm not going to clamor we start banning it all together

    Lanz on
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    [Tycho?][Tycho?] As elusive as doubt Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Ok, in an absolute sort of way, I dont like this.

    But taking everything else into consideration, I can't say I really care. There are much, much larger and more important issues facing the US at the moment. And having questions about abortion and gay marriage for the republican debates is unlikely to produce anything productive anyway.

    [Tycho?] on
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    nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    MKR wrote: »
    "It's a state issue" is a weak excuse. It's not exactly unprecedented to give minorities rights in federal laws.

    Not to mention the Constitution makes federal decisions trump anything the states do anyway.

    nexuscrawler on
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    SenjutsuSenjutsu thot enthusiast Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    What the fuck kind of argument is "they all have the same answer, so don't ask the question"?

    It's a fucking debate. Maybe I want to, just maybe, hear them defend the reasoning they used to arrive at their stance.

    Senjutsu on
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    nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Senjutsu wrote: »
    What the fuck kind of argument is "they all have the same answer, so don't ask the question"?

    It's a fucking debate. Maybe I want to, just maybe, hear them defend the reasoning they used to arrive at their stance.

    No because if they're forced to defend their reasoning people might call them bigots.

    nexuscrawler on
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    SenjutsuSenjutsu thot enthusiast Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Outrageous, that

    Senjutsu on
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    nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Senjutsu wrote: »
    Outrageous, that

    Didn't you know the rule?

    It's acceptable to call one bigot a bigot but it's rude to do so when they travel in groups

    nexuscrawler on
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    Fuzzy Cumulonimbus CloudFuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Lanz wrote: »
    whitey9 wrote: »
    whitey9 wrote: »
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    The Republican stance is no and fuck no. The Democratic stance usually tends to be "I'm opposed to it personally, but it shouldn't be illegal.". Having their cake and eating it too. You could run for almost any public office on the platform of outlawing abortion and banning gay marriage and get a disturbing amount of votes.

    The last numbers I saw, more people were pro-choice, but pro-choice people don't vote in the numbers that the lifers do.

    The Democratic stance is best described in three words: Safe. Legal. Rare. What that means is that we shouldn't outlaw abortion, but at the same time make it uncommon by giving mothers options and support.

    While that may be the Democratic party stance, the incumbents frequently take the route of "I don't like it, but it should be legal". Go look at what Kerry said when he was running for the president. It's such a limp-dick answer to the issue.

    Simply making it illegal isn't going to solve shit. Safe, rare, and legal is really the only [realistic] answer.

    My guess as to why they won't allow these questions, is that the candidates aren't fully researched on the subject and don't really want to be put on the spot. Nobody says you need to be pro-life and intelligent about it, pro-life is good enough.

    How on earth is "I don't like it, but it should be legal" a "limp-dick" answer? O_o


    I don't like smoking, but I'm not going to clamor we start banning it all together
    You do realize there is a difference between smoking and gay marriage?

    Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud on
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    monikermoniker Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    whitey9 wrote: »
    My guess as to why they won't allow these questions, is that the candidates aren't fully researched on the subject and don't really want to be put on the spot. Nobody says you need to be pro-life and intelligent about it, pro-life is good enough.

    O_o
    Bwa? The candidates aren't making these decisions, CNN is. The whole point of a debate is to spring questions on people, not to let them monologue a form letter. (Or to force them to say yes or no when they're giving a nuanced answer.) Besides, how does being ignorant on an issue justify ignoring it? I mean, seriously, interrobang.

    moniker on
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    whitey9whitey9 Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    moniker wrote: »
    whitey9 wrote: »
    My guess as to why they won't allow these questions, is that the candidates aren't fully researched on the subject and don't really want to be put on the spot. Nobody says you need to be pro-life and intelligent about it, pro-life is good enough.

    O_o
    Bwa? The candidates aren't making these decisions, CNN is. The whole point of a debate is to spring questions on people, not to let them monologue a form letter. (Or to force them to say yes or no when they're giving a nuanced answer.) Besides, how does being ignorant on an issue justify ignoring it? I mean, seriously, interrobang.

    I haven't seen the issue of abortion or gay marriage come up in ANY recent Republican debate up to this point, so it's not just CNN. They don't want to talk about the issue because they are either unable to defend their position cohesively (I really wouldn't be surprised) or they can't say "because the bible told us not to" without sounding a little... you know.. weird. The only time you'll really see either side talk about either subject at length are at church get-out-the-vote rallies.

    It's strange that it's a central issue with both parties, but it's not really brought up all too often.

    Either way I'm veering off the central topic, for that I apologize.

    whitey9 on
    llcoolwhitey.png
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    LanzLanz ...Za?Registered User regular
    edited November 2007
    Lanz wrote: »
    whitey9 wrote: »
    whitey9 wrote: »
    Detharin wrote: »
    If you can not clearly and concisely state your opinions on gay marriage and abortion, you should not bother running for the president.

    The Republican stance is no and fuck no. The Democratic stance usually tends to be "I'm opposed to it personally, but it shouldn't be illegal.". Having their cake and eating it too. You could run for almost any public office on the platform of outlawing abortion and banning gay marriage and get a disturbing amount of votes.

    The last numbers I saw, more people were pro-choice, but pro-choice people don't vote in the numbers that the lifers do.

    The Democratic stance is best described in three words: Safe. Legal. Rare. What that means is that we shouldn't outlaw abortion, but at the same time make it uncommon by giving mothers options and support.

    While that may be the Democratic party stance, the incumbents frequently take the route of "I don't like it, but it should be legal". Go look at what Kerry said when he was running for the president. It's such a limp-dick answer to the issue.

    Simply making it illegal isn't going to solve shit. Safe, rare, and legal is really the only [realistic] answer.

    My guess as to why they won't allow these questions, is that the candidates aren't fully researched on the subject and don't really want to be put on the spot. Nobody says you need to be pro-life and intelligent about it, pro-life is good enough.

    How on earth is "I don't like it, but it should be legal" a "limp-dick" answer? O_o


    I don't like smoking, but I'm not going to clamor we start banning it all together
    You do realize there is a difference between smoking and gay marriage?
    A) Why yes I do! :P
    B) I could have sworn we were talking about Kerry's stance on abortion and not Gay Marriage
    C) despite the difference between all three of these things, they all happen to share the fact that just because someone may not approve of them or wish to partake in them does not necessitate the need to legislate them into illegality. Nor does it mean you're taking a "limp-dick" approach by saying "I do not personally approve of it, but my personal view should not be the law of the land."

    Lanz on
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