The Gist

Democratic YouTube debate



I really was leery of the format of this highly-promoted debate and said so on the show today: I was afraid it was just another gimmick by CNN to make it look like it was the "people" asking the candidates the questions by using YouTube, when in fact CNN producers and staff chose the questions. That was of course true, but there was definitely something more authentic about having voters ask the questions rather than the moderator (Anderson Cooper), something I'd not factored in. When Mary and Jen, a lesbian couple from Brooklyn, asked whether or not the candidates would allow them to get married to each other it came from the people affected and not from a straight (or closeted) moderator. And when Rev. Reggie Longcrier asked about the issue it came from a black minister making the connection between religion-based bigotry against blacks and gays.

That was very powerful and I realized the format had some great strengths. Not that it made any of the leading candidates deal with the issue of marriage equality any better. John Edwards talked about how "difficult" this issue is for him -- oh please -- and that he has his religious beliefs with which to contend, even if his wife has somehow reconciled it. Obama punted the answer as well. Dennis Kucinich gave the only good answer: that gays should simply be able to marry, end of discussion (something the audience seemed to agree with).

I've supported the idea of so many debates just because it gets the issues out there and is one upside of this seemingly endless, early presidential race. There was no clear winner in this debate, and Hillary Clinton continued to give a confident and polished performance, which is only going to help her maintain frontrunner status.