Democratic debate - Most candidates flew a private jet

[markvee]

Senator Chris Dodd wants a carbon tax.
In terms of personal sacrifice, he drives a hybrid and uses efficient light bulbs in the home.

Then CNN host Anderson Cooper asks, by show of hands, who flew a private jet or chartered jet to the debate tonight:

Senator Barack Obama - Raises hand first

Senator Hillary Clinton - Raises hand second

Former Senator John Edwards - Raises hand third

Senator Chris Dodd - Raises hand half way and quickly lowers it again

Governor Bill Richardson - Raises hand while clarifying that he flew in yesterday

Senator Joe Biden - Manages to move his hand in such a way that you are not sure whether he is raising it or not

Congressman Dennis Kucinich - Does not raise hand

Former Senator Mike Gravel - "I took the train, and I took the bus. And maybe one of these will give me a ride someday."

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYGlFKPr-_I

The fun starts at the 4 minute mark of the clip.

Transcript:
Part 1: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/23/debate.transcript/
Part 2: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/23/debate.transcript.part2/index.html

 

[friendz4evr]

Senator Chris Dodd wants a carbon tax.
In terms of personal sacrifice, he drives a hybrid and uses efficient light bulbs in the home.

Then CNN host Anderson Cooper asks, by show of hands, who flew a private jet or chartered jet to the debate tonight:

Senator Barack Obama - Raises hand first

Senator Hillary Clinton - Raises hand second

Former Senator John Edwards - Raises hand third

Senator Chris Dodd - Raises hand half way and quickly lowers it again

Governor Bill Richardson - Raises hand while clarifying that he flew in yesterday

Senator Joe Biden - Manages to move his hand in such a way that you are not sure whether he is raising it or not

Congressman Dennis Kucinich - Does not raise hand

Former Senator Mike Gravel - "I took the train, and I took the bus. And maybe one of these will give me a ride someday."

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYGlFKPr-_I

The fun starts at the 4 minute mark of the clip.

Transcript:
Part 1: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/23
/debate.transcript/
Part 2: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/23/debate.transcript.part2/index.html

We all want our politicians to be just folks, but the truth is there is a campaign going on in the big wide USA, and no one is going to cover ground riding the bus. Gravel can - he's a nuisance candidate.

 

[markvee]

Can the candidates arrange their stops so that they can drive?
Can the candidates video conference?
Can the candidates fly commercial?
Can the candidates plane pool?
Can the candidates give Mike Gravel a ride?

It sure must be a nuisance to share the stage with someone who walks the walk.

 

[maxweber]

Can the candidates arrange their stops so that they can drive?
Can the candidates video conference?
Can the candidates fly commercial?
Can the candidates plane pool?
Can the candidates give Mike Gravel a ride?

It sure must be a nuisance to share the stage with someone who walks the walk.

Asking commercial travel of a presidential candidate in this a day and age is ludicrous. A private jet, disgusting as this indulgence is, is necessary for survival in the race. The question was idiotic.

MW

 

[Gyaos]

And what did Anderson Cooper fly? Virgin Galactic? Anderson Cooper is one of the reasons there's so much corruption in America. He needs to be thrown out.

And a carbon tax never works. Look at the dirty UK and their nonsense taxes up the ass. Only John Edwards got it right. He stated companies like these will never negotiate or give up their power. The only way is to take their power away from them by confronting them head-on.

I also didn't like the healthcare segment. Anderson Cooper, that prick, purposely left Dennis Kucinich out of the debate on that issue. Kucinich is the only one directly correct on the health care issue. God forbid he talks about "the under insured" or forced co-pay care on CNN, one of the largest recipients of the for profit healthcare industry. Look at that CNN medical terrorist Sanjay Gupta.

Gyaos Baltar.

P.S.: CNN also ran for-profit commercials during this "debate" which wasn't a debate, just a bundle of propaganda style questions from a bundle of bumbs using YouTube. Not one direct question, just a bundle or organized propaganda disguised as questions. Like the assault weapon question. That should not have been shown and looked more like a threat, or Al Qaeda video. Which BTW, not one question about Pakistan and the terrorist fuckers that attacked America and the world.

Hillary got it right. She said she will not be used as a propaganda piece. CNN the mother of all propaganda.

 

[frasier]

...leadership by example???..no way

 

[red]

...leadership by example???..no way

that would be crazy....like Bush fighting in viet nam or something

 

[Gyaos]

Anyone interested in the issues [or is it only me]?

I am. Unfortunately all the questions on that "debate" were organized propaganda themselves, disguised as questions. CNN would not show any tits and ass from YouTube, and why not? They are cable TV and not regulated by the FCC. Not to mention the fact YouTube is a business based on pirated material to begin with.

Gyaos Baltar.

 

[markvee]

And what did Anderson Cooper fly? Virgin Galactic? Anderson Cooper is one of the reasons there's so much corruption in America. He needs to be thrown out.

I'm not a big fan of CNN in general, but I think that Anderson Cooper did a good job of trying to get the candidates to answer the questions. When candidates launched speehes instead of answering the question, Cooper would call them on it.

And a carbon tax never works. Look at the dirty UK and their nonsense taxes up the ass. Only John Edwards got it right. He stated companies like these will never negotiate or give up their power. The only way is to take their power away from them by confronting them head-on.

Edwards was not the only candidate with a position of reducing the influence of oil companies:

George Bush's oil war was a mistake.

No. And I think that the reason is that if you support, for example, in Iraq, if you say that Iraq should privatize its oil for the U.S. oil companies, then what you're doing is you're continuing a commitment to use more oil. If you believe that all options should be put on the table with respect to Iran, that's about oil.

And the reason it doesn't change -- you can take a look at how Dick Cheney did his energy policy. He met with environmental groups once. He met with renewable energy folks once. And then he met with oil and gas companies 40 times. And that's how they put together our energy policy. We've got to put the national interests ahead of special interests, and that's what I'll do as president of the United States.

I also didn't like the healthcare segment. Anderson Cooper, that prick, purposely left Dennis Kucinich out of the debate on that issue. Kucinich is the only one directly correct on the health care issue. God forbid he talks about "the under insured" or forced co-pay care on CNN, one of the largest recipients of the for profit healthcare industry. Look at that CNN medical terrorist Sanjay Gupta.

I agree that all the candidates should have answered each question. I think that there were unfair discrepancies in the number of questions directed at each candidate and the time alloted each candidate to answer.

P.S.: CNN also ran for-profit commercials during this "debate" which wasn't a debate, just a bundle of propaganda style questions from a bundle of bumbs using YouTube. Not one direct question, just a bundle or organized propaganda disguised as questions. Like the assault weapon question. That should not have been shown and looked more like a threat, or Al Qaeda video. Which BTW, not one question about Pakistan and the terrorist fuckers that attacked America and the world.

I liked the YouTube questions. The public was enabled to question the delegates directly. I agree that CNN and YouTube ultimately got to choose the issues by choosing the questions, but I think that they made some interesting choices such as:

This quarter reads "United States of America." And when I turn it over, you find that it reads "liberty, in God we trust." What do those words mean to you? Thank you.

followed by

Am I wrong in fearing a Democratic administration that may be lip service to the extremely religious as much as the current one? And if so, why? Thank you for your time.

Hillary got it right. She said she will not be used as a propaganda piece. CNN the mother of all propaganda.

Hillary Clinton did not say that she would not be used a propaganda piece by CNN. She said that she would not commit to meeting the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea in the first year of her administration because she would not want the meeting to be used for propaganada purposes. Here’s the clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAlyYtJxaio. I don't have a problem with the question or the answer although I agree that CNN does spew propaganda sometimes.

 

[markvee]

I don't get the point. What are the alternatives?

Alternatives:

Can the candidates arrange their stops so that they can drive?
Can the candidates video conference?
Can the candidates fly commercial?
Can the candidates plane pool?
Can the candidates give Mike Gravel a ride?

This is getting really petty. Haircuts, meals, travel, what next? The price of their wardrobe and where
it was made?

John Edwards initiated the discussion about wardrobe, saying he was not sure about Hillary Clinton's coat in response to the question what you like and dislike about the candidate to the left. In fairness, the questioner stated that the question was meant to lighten the mood. Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ4yFO5wGMg

Anyone interested in the issues [or is it only me]?

The show of hands was done to get the answer to the question quickly, and the candidates were then allowed time to discuss energy policy. The positions of various candidates are in the 8 minute clip I linked at the start of the thread.

Still, Chris Dodd made the mistake of suggesting that he was leading by example in terms of energy conservation, and he got called on it. I'm not going to attack the debate format over his mistake (although I did not like all aspects of the debate format).

 

[Meister]

Anyone interested in the issues [or is it only me]?

That is the issue.

It's about who gets to waste more resources. It's about who controls the finite oil. It's about continuing to consume at Walmart and shifting the global marketplace wasting even more resources.

Who cares about gay marriage, religious freedoms, abortion.... when it is all about who on the global scale gets to consume/waste the resources?

 

[markvee]

that would be crazy....like Bush fighting in viet nam or something

Agreed

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

We'll have to wait and see how the GOP make the trip.

I don't get the point. What are the alternatives?

This is getting really petty. Haircuts, meals, travel,
what next? The price of their wardrobe and where
it was made.

Anyone interested in the issues [or is it only me]?

What a ridiculous question to ask in a debate. This kind of crap proves why the process will never attract talent.

Until serious election reform is implemented, the best you (we) can hope for is mediocrity.

 

[markvee]

I think that there are talented candidates who are getting their message out irrespective of the format.

But the electorate must work to hear the message in spite of the format.

If the electorate does not do the work then it will be rewarded with mediocrity or worse.

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

I think that there are talented candidates who are getting their message out irrespective of the format.

Examples?

 

[markvee]

Examples?

My choices so far:

Republicans:
Very good: Ron Paul
Bad: The rest
Worst: Rudy Giuliani

Democrats:
Very good: Mike Gravel
Good: Dennis Kucinich
Mediocre good: Barack Obama
Mediocre bad: John Edwards, Bill Richardson
Bad: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd

So at this point, I would choose Mike Gravel vs Ron Paul (with Ron Paul winning), but there is lots of time to change my mind.

My choices are based on the candidates' positions, not on media declarations of the candidates' chances.

 

[Asterix]

For his part, John McCain has taken the bold move to stop using chartered jets and travel as much as possible on his bus, "The Straight Talk Express". Of course that decision came after he realized he was nearly broke, but a bold move nonetheless.

 

[lookingforitallthetime]

My choices so far:

Republicans:
Very good: Ron Paul
Bad: The rest
Worst: Rudy Giuliani

Democrats:
Very good: Mike Gravel
Good: Dennis Kucinich
Mediocre good: Barack Obama
Mediocre bad: John Edwards, Bill Richardson
Bad: Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd

So at this point, I would choose Mike Gravel vs Ron Paul (with Ron Paul winning), but there is lots of time to change my mind.

My choices are based on the candidates' positions, not on media declarations of the candidates' chances.

Thanks.

Interestingly, the candidates you deem as most talented (I'm not disagreeing) have a small chance of winning.

 

[frasier]

Thanks.

Interestingly, the candidates you deem as most talented (I'm not disagreeing) have a small chance of winning.

yeah because the whole election has become a horse race and war of soundbites.

 

[markvee]

yeah because the whole election has become a horse race and war of soundbites.

The wonderful thing about the Internet is that the mainstream media can not limit it to soundbites.

I consider the hour I spent watching this interview with Ron Paul well spent:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

I don’t agree with everything he says, but I find his positions very well informed.