Monday, July 30, 2007

Republicans Are Afraid

It turns out not everyone enjoyed the YouTube debate as much as I did. In fact, it down right frightened some people because, I guess, too many regular people were allowed to participate. Unfortunately, it seems to have frightened the very people we need to be unafraid to listen and respond to the concerns of real Americans - like those people that want to be President of the United States. Apparently, Giuliani, Romney and McCain have become a little leery of having to deal with some originality and context when being asked questions during a debate, so they may not attend the GOP version of the YouTube debate on September 17th.

If presidential hopefuls are too busy to answer questions from real Americans, that's their choice. However, the fact that this is even an issue for those seeking the Republican nomination speaks volumes about Republicans' ability and desire to address those issues that are most important to young Americans. The last YouTube debate featured more young people than traditional town hall debates. As such, Giuliani, Romney, and McCain are implicitly sending the message that the concerns of young Americans are not important to them and do not figure in to their presidential aspirations. Perhaps, even worse, Giuliani, Romney, and McCain simply realize that they don't have answers to the problems that worry us most such as global warming, health care, sustainable energy policies, and the war in Iraq.

Democrats, on the other hand, fully embraced the opportunity to engage in a new forum that utilized some of today's most popular technology and gave regular Americans, many of them young, the chance to exercise their right to question those that would hold the highest office in the land. Unlike Republicans, the Democratic candidates recognize that we have legitimate concerns about the future of this country, and that successfully addressing those issues is key not only to electoral success but to the future well being of this country.

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