On Hannity & Colmes, DeLay claimed "there was no gotcha questions" in Democratic CNN/YouTube debate
SUMMARY: On Hannity & Colmes, Tom DeLay claimed that the questions asked during the November 28 CNN/YouTube Republican debate "were nothing but gotcha questions with a liberal bias," and that "there was no gotcha questions like these" during the July 23 CNN/YouTube Democratic debate. Co-host Sean Hannity asserted, "Now I don't remember seeing Republican questioners at the Democratic debate. Do you?" But several questions from the July 23 Democratic debate could be classified as Republican "gotcha" questions, and the Los Angeles Times reported that a "review" of the Democratic debate found that "[a]t least two of the citizen-interrogators had clear GOP leanings."
On the November 29 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes, former House Majority Leader and Townhall.com columnist Tom DeLay (R-TX) claimed that the questions asked during the November 28 CNN/YouTube Republican debate "were nothing but gotcha questions with a liberal bias," and that "there was no gotcha questions like these" during the July 23 CNN/YouTube Democratic debate. Later in the segment, co-host Sean Hannity asserted, "Now I don't remember seeing Republican questioners at the Democratic debate. Do you?" However, as Media Matters for America documented, several questions from the July 23 Democratic debate could be classified as Republican "gotcha" questions. Subsequently, a November 30 Los Angeles Times article reported that "[a] review by the Los Angeles Times" of the Democratic debate found that "[a]t least two of the citizen-interrogators had clear GOP leanings."
Media Matters noted that several questions asked during the Democratic debate could be described as Republican "gotchas," including: one in which the questioner echoed the enduring Republican myth of Democrats as taxers and spenders, another asking the candidates' views on gun control, and a question to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) about her reception as a female president by Arab and Muslim states.
The Los Angeles Times subsequently reported that the MySpace page of the questioner who asked whether Clinton "would be taken seriously" by Arab and Muslim states "features pictures of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Republican presidential candidate." The article further reported that the man who asked about gun control reportedly "said he had voted twice for President Bush" during "an interview Thursday." From the November 30 Times article:
But, CNN's [political director Sam] Feist said, conservative commentators did not complain when questioners who shared their political ideology had videos aired during the Democratic forum in July.
During that session, one video questioner asked the candidates to choose between raising taxes or cutting benefits in order to save Social Security. Another demanded to know whether taxes would rise "like usually they do when a Democrat comes in office." A third featured a gun-toting Michigan man, who in an interview Thursday said he had voted twice for President Bush, who wanted to know if the Democrats would protect his "baby" -- an assault rifle he cradled in his arms.
Another questioner from that forum who seemed to have clear conservative credentials was John McAlpin, a sailor who asked Clinton: "How do you think you would be taken seriously" by Arab and Muslim nations that treat women as "second-class citizens"?
McAlpin's MySpace page features pictures of Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York mayor and Republican presidential candidate.
It depicts Fox commentator Bill O'Reilly as a friend, while offering a caricature of a bearded, turban-wearing "Borat Hussein Obama" -- a derogatory reference to Obama, the Democratic candidate who as a youth attended a Muslim school.
From the November 29 edition of Fox News' Hannity & Colmes:
FORD: Again, I'm not here to defend CNN or any of those people. My only point is that when the Democratic debate took place on CNN with YouTube, we had many questions -- similar questions. Maybe we ought to do them right all here at Fox and do it right here on Hannity & Colmes --
HANNITY: It would have been done a lot better. Yes, Tom DeLay.
FORD: -- and get the questions right.
DeLAY: Harold, I have got to tell you, there were -- in that Democrat [sic] YouTube, there was no gotcha questions like these were. These were nothing but gotcha questions with a liberal bias.
FORD: No, no, I have got great respect for you, but --
DeLAY: CNN.
FORD: I'm not going to let you get --
DeLAY: Harold, if I could finish.
FORD: It goes both ways. This goes both ways.
DeLAY: Harold, I let you finish. Harold, I let you finish. Let me finish.
HANNITY: All right. Tell you what, I will let you both finish, go ahead, Congressman. You have 15 seconds.
DeLAY: Well, this is the way Democrats debate. They try to talk over you.
FORD: Are you calling Sean a Democrat?
HANNITY: All right. Congressman, hang on. Congressman DeLay, it's Sean. We are getting crosstalk here. Let me come back. We will throw it back to you as soon as we get back, I promise.
And a lot more to come tonight. There is plenty more to show you from last night's debate disaster. And here is what looks like a concerned young voter. Turns out she is an Edwards supporter. Now, I don't remember seeing Republicans questioners at the Democratic debate. Do you? So we are going to keep dissecting this disgraceful CNN debate.
And later, Seattle's mayor thinks Santa Claus is in real danger and we can all do something to stop it, straight ahead.
Faux 'News'.... please have more criminals be guests on your show- it adds an air of respectability... thank you, your loyal viewer...
Why can someone just give Tom a bottle of cheap scotch and lead him back to his rock so he can live out his less than useful life.....
Maybe he can befriend the many cockroaches that survived his...... oh wait.... he's on FOX.... Mission Accomplished!
Is this like the new defense for these political parties when they don't like a question asked? Haul out the "gotcha" defense and then act as if it is unfair or inappropriate? Well, maybe some are, some aren't. But I would think the candidate should be able and equipped enough to call it for what it is at that exact moment, and answer it appropriately. To dodge it is being a weenie.
Tommy: I agree with your sentiment. This was a you tube debate, and I think it was pretty clear that some of the questions would be from people who were not big supporters. So what??? There are some questions that are clearly just meant to embarrass, such as Russert asking Kucinich whether he saw a UFO. Did that have anything to do with a relevant issue? No, Russert was clearly just trying to embarrass Kucinich. But a gay man that rose to the rank of Brigadier General asked about a relevant issue that directly concerned his own career. Whether he has any ties whatsoever to Hillary's campaign in no way "tainted" the question, or in any way suggests that this was not a question that would clearly be important to this man, and a question that he would have asked if he had never heard of Hillary. All the Republican whining about this question is really ridiculous, especially when I really do not hear anyone explaining why the question itself was unfair.
Got yer back on that one, Tommy.
P.S. Don't make a big deal out of this, I have an image to uphold! ;)
There's nothing new about this.
The far right has been claiming liberal media bias and portraying Hillary Clinton as the devil for a long, long time.
They see the latest CNN debate as the perfect opportunity to get out some tried and true talking points to rally their base.
SAVE DEMOCRACY, VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT!!
- tommy / Friday November 30, 2007 06:11:19 PM EST
I'm with Tommy on this, unless the questions were meant to torpedo the candidate, I see nothing wrong with a voter of either party putting a question to the candidates.
That should work both ways and unqualified! A good question on policy should be a good question for both parties!
Happy Thoughts;
Dan Grady
Right, but Tommy has shifted the focus in order to get a few "amens." This isn't about whether or not candidates should be able to handle gotcha questions (of course they should); it's about how Hannity and Delay are lying when they claim that there were no gotcha questions or unsympathetic questioners in the Democratic debate.
We were commenting on the issue as a whole, not rubberstamping the thread as it's written, which is all you ever seem to do because any further independent analysis requires more thoughtfulness - and you stumble whenever approaching that benchmark, but it's OK - I am well aware of your limitations.
The saddest part of the whole darn 'debate' was the end when Rudy was accussed of being a non-Yankee fan... albeit the question may have been to be intentionally humorous, but the question has NO basis for presidential candidates...
Likewise the "diamonds or pearls' question asked of Hillary.
OMG, DeLay and his shoe-polished hair ! That drives me CRAZY !!! Dear Tom, please dye your eyebrows too, they are way too faded for your youthful (smirk) hair.
I refuse to believe that the liberals who read MMFA think that there is a comparable question of how someone would spend our money and if taxes would be raised vs.
WWJD
Confederate Flag
Bible Question
Fake Log Cabin Repubican
Fake Undecided Voter
Flying a General in to say that the candidates "Did not answer his question" when he works for HRC
1/3 of the questions were from Democrats, which could be uncovered by one click of a mouse.
That's funny. I clicked my mouse and it said that you are a fool. I guess I right-clicked by mistake.
Copious: This was a You Tube debate, which means questions were asked by a lot of people that the Republicans could not control, or intimidate with their usual cries of "liberal bias." Why don't you just admit that you do not like this type of forum, and maybe you and other conservatives can convince all the big, brave Republicans to never again answer questions from Americans who are not screened by Republican supporters at the door before they are allowed in.
Oh please, how was the general fake? Was he, or was he not a member of the log cabin republicans? I really want to know how you draw that line...
I guess the democrats know how to jimmy the internet tubes a little better than them good ol republican boys.
And one more thing Copious, why is a question to Mike Huckabee about whether Jesus would be for capital punishment a "gotcha" question? Huckabee is the one who says that his Christianity guides his political decisions. Would Jesus be in favor of capital punishment, or preemptive war, or tax cuts for the wealthy while benefits are cut to the less fortunate? Those might be questions that many Republicans do not want to answer, but they are not "gotcha" questions for candidates that say their political decisions are based on the teachings of Christianity.
one of the highlights of al franken's "lying liars" was an illustrated chapter entitled "supply side jesus". the big guy didn't have time for all those loser poor people.
MeFirst: I read that book, and it was funny. By the way, did you notice it is not just the Republican candidates that run from WWJD questions? The lack of a response from Copious Dissent to me post is typical. Shout from the rooftops that you are a Christian and that the Republican party is the party of Christian values, and then avoid any question that addresses how so many of the Republican policies are completely contrary to what Jesus said and did, as written in the New Testament. As usual in the world of Republican politics, do not answer a question you do not like, just attack the messenger by claiming that it was a "gotcha" question, or complain that the questioner was a "lib" so that the question need not be answered.
And your point is????? Half of this country consists of Democrats so why shouldn't questions to those seeking to be president come from Democrats? After the last occupant of the white house, we better damn sure ask quesions.
What is funny though in your whining is that your party invokes Jesus whenever convenient. You bash gays and lesbiians all of the time. You accuse Democrats of being tax and spenders when in truth we just have to come in and clean up the mess created by your irresponsible tax breaks and now under Shrub, the drunken sailor spending.
If you can't handle simple questions from Democrats, how are you going to protect us from the Turrists??
Your party and the pundits, have gotten so use to secreening the audience for favorable members towards your cause, you Repulseivlicans have forgotten how to have an honest discussion about the issues or a debate. And you're all so darn tough too....crybabies!
Flying a General in to say that the candidates "Did not answer his question" when he works for HRC.
Trouble is he claims he does not "work for" HRC. He claims he allowed his name to be used as a supporter of her gay rights committee. He only "works for HRC" in that he asked a question that republicans didn't want asked.
Of course DeLay didn't think that. The questions asked were exactly the kind of things they want to hear democrats try to answer. But a gay general? That's a gotcha question...
Another thing, sooner or later, one of them will have to answer questions from ALL Americans so the Republicans should be looking at this in the light of who can save their party in the general election from being blown clear out the water, clearing the way for a new party that will eventually crush them out of existance!
Like KO said. How does the GOP plan to handle Al Quaida if they can't handle a question from a known democrat?
Like fleas on a zombie,ousted ripofficans keep coming back. Why Harold Ford wanted to give legitimacy to the profitganda by appearing I have no idea;the clods who watch and Believe in the S&H spew-a-rama are never going to vote for him. The lies of DeLay and the supposed non aroma of his party's tactics would gag a hungry vulture.
The complaint is that the questions were to come from 'undecided' republican voters, which obviously several were not.
I would rather have questions taken from all spectrums of the political realm, not screened by biased producers or moderators and filled with nothing but 'gotcha' questions for any debate. Have the candidates submit questions themselves so they can give both comments to their own platforms and respond to the tough questions from their opponents.
I agree with your sentiment, but MMFA is highlighting DeLay saying that the Dem debate did not contain any gotchas while the repub debate did.
Unless you think the guy who called his gun his "baby" and the other guy who framed the taxes question as all dems always raise taxes were not gotchas from non-dems, you must admit that Delay is talking out of his ass (as usual).
And if James Carville (as an example) were interviewed in the same manner, he would say there were no "gotchas" in the R debate and plenty in the D debate. But what else would one expect from partisans.
Having questions submitted from the Candidates would be a good idea
Who the hell cares what this jumped up bug catcher has to say anymore?
I heard Joe Scarborough and Delay say the questions were asked to paint the Republicans in a bad light and make then look foolish. Were there not enough questions where Republicans could say terror, terror, and more terror? Did someone not give Judy a questions that required a 9/11, I was Mayor, 9/11 I was Mayor response?
When you run a campaign based on terror, terror and more terror or 9/11, 9/11, 9/11 you seem to forget that people have other concerns and questions they would like answered. Whose fault is it that Republicans only have answers to terror and 9/11?
Pearlene, I didn't catch the debates, but I saw some clips of interviews with that panel of undecided voters.Did anyone else catch the guy that was very excited about Romney's torture position vs. McCains? I'm going to paraphrase, but promise I am not embellishing much;
"I have no problem pouring some water on the face of a man who wants to kill 3000 Americans on 9/11"
Priceless. A world class irrational bedwetter, and he gets to vote.
And before I take any advice from him on what's right and wrong, I'd like to see some cleanup on Tom Delay's dirty dozen +1.
Tom Delay experienced a "gotcha" a couple of years ago. Nice mug shot, Tom.
It is a strategy all Republicans seem to use: never, never answer the question or engage in a relevant discussion. An example: the Petraues ad by MoveOn.org. Last night, my husband (voted for Bush 2x :o() said the ad called the General a traitor. I asked, Is every betrayal treasonous? He answered, no, but... I said, ok then, the right-wingers changed the topic from, let's critically analyze the words Gen. Petraues is speaking, to, oh no! he's being called a traitor, which we've just established is not true. My husband had no comeback for that; common sense told him I was correct. He hates when that happens! At any rate, it is a common tactic on the right to obscure the real issues, whatever they may be. I don't understand why otherwise intelligent people fall for their dishonest word games and fake outrage.
How can anyone, ANYONE take delay with any amount of credibility? He has the ethics of a cow pie and it's "stunning" that Hannity would continue to have him on, like ollie north.
Hannity has the ethics of a cow pie, too. Can you imagine how much that guy would have to say about Dick "the toe sucker" Morris if Morris went after Republicans the way he trashes the Clintons. Or how about Ted "I avoided the draft by defacating all over myself" Nugent. Do you think Hannity would have him on constantly if he did not espose hatred for Democrats? DeLay, indicted. North, indicted. They are heroes. But Sandy Berger? Oh Sean's indignation about Sandy Berger removing documents knows no bounds. Hannity's "ethics" (which he trumpets a lot as if he is the moral man of the ages) are a complete show. He is such a dishonest jerk it is nauseating.
I speak for "cow pies" everywhere to express their outrage ar your comparing them to Tom DeLay and Sean "Ins"Hanitty.