Posted: Tuesday, November 27, 2007 9:07 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Republicans, 2008
The Washington Post has been combing through the submitted questions for tomorrow's CNN/YouTube debate, and it finds one of the toughest questions could be one of the shortest: "What does the word 'Republican' mean to you?" "The period for submitting questions via YouTube video ended yesterday, and almost 5,000 were offered up as fodder for the debate. The videos are as diverse as the questioners themselves, coming from all ages and backgrounds, and from Republicans and Democrats alike. In one, a black woman from Dallas, soon to be out of college and lamenting that she needs to learn Spanish to secure a job, asks how the candidates feel about non-English-speaking immigrants. In another, a middle-age man from Tucson, sitting in his wheelchair, asks about stem cell research. A gay Republican from Atlanta asks: "How can we make the Republican Party a more
large, open tent?"
The New York Times adds that the GOP CNN/YouTube debate was postponed in summer in part because one of the candidates, Mitt Romney, thought the Democratic debate was demeaned when CNN showed a video of an animated snowman asking a question about global warming. Mr. Romney eventually relented. A new snowman video has been submitted for the Republicans. Will it be shown? ‘Tune in and see,’ said David Bohrman, CNN’s Washington bureau chief and executive producer of the debate.”
GIULIANI: The former mayor said yesterday he "never had any doubt" that if he were president four years ago, he would have invaded Iraq. He said he is now "even more certain" that it was the correct national security move. “‘I actually believe that Democrats are going to agree with me on that by the time we get to the general election,’ the Republican former New York City mayor said. Giuliani addressed a wide range of issues in an hour-long meeting with editors of the New Hampshire Union Leader.
HUCKABEE: The New York Sun notes that in the five-way contest on the GOP side, two candidates have avoided "direct conflict, exchanging more compliments than criticism." Those candidates: Giuliani and Huckabee. "The comments only add to the perception that even as he rises in the polls, Mr. Huckabee is angling for the vice presidential slot on the Republican ballot, should Mr. Giuliani win the nomination. As an affable Southerner with a solidly conservative record on social issues, Mr. Huckabee could provide precisely the kind of geographic and political balance needed for a ticket topped by an occasionally abrasive New Yorker who supports abortion rights, analysts say."
MCCAIN: Does this help McCain in New Hampshire? "…Iowa and New Hampshire must make good on their commitments to vet the candidates without fear or favor; they must be motivated by good citizenship alone, serving as unbiased jurors," writes the Boston Globe's Peter Canellos. "This year, only one of the states is living up to the ideal. New Hampshirites are checking out the candidates freely and fairly, without imposing any special-interest agenda of their own. But there is strong evidence that Iowans are using their early-voting status to make the candidates pass a litmus test on ethanol subsidies." More: "There could be other reasons for McCain's low standing in Iowa. But if a presidential candidate can be derailed for taking a stand against a regional sacred cow like ethanol, there's something wrong with the system."
PAUL: Paul picked up the endorsement of the owner of the Moonlite BunnyRanch, a brothel in Nevada. "I'll get all the (working girls) together, and we can raise him some money," Dennis Hof told the Reno Gazette-Journal. "I'll put up a collection box outside the door. They can drop in $1, $5 contributions." Hof and two of his prostitutes, Brooke Taylor and a woman who goes by Air Force Amy, attended a Paul news conference.
And check out the AP's video report on the endorsement. The correspondent's lead: "Working the polls have taken on a whole new meaning."
ROMNEY: The Des Moines Register analyzes Romney's newest ad, which focuses on family. "This ad continues one of the main themes of the former governor's campaign for president, attempting to appeal to evangelicals and social conservatives with a focus on traditional Judeo-Christian values.”
