November 29, 2007 - The CNN/YouTube Republican presidential debate yielded a predictable rerun of what has become a pattern of responses and results, notwithstanding the submission of "video questions."
As many observers, blogs and alternative news sources point out regularly on the Internet, the economy is teetering, the U.S. national debt is overwhelming, the country is engaged in at least two "hot wars" and threatening a third with Iran, the USA PATRIOT Act and other provisions are overturning traditional American civil liberties. Yet the debate did not spend much time on these issues. What was the seeming focus? Immigration, gays in the military, the role of religion in political life, etc.
What else was predictable? Only limited government candidate Ron Paul (R-Tex) seemed engaged and willing to comment on such serious issues. Perhaps for this reason he once again finished ahead of the pack by a wide margin in various Internet polls.
The results at CNN:
Who do you think won the debate?
- 1. Ron Paul 50% 6732 votes
- 2. Mike Huckabee 22% 2959 votes
- 3. John McCain 11% 1473 votes
- 4. Mitt Romney 9% 1242 votes
- 5. Rudy Giuliani 5% 703 votes
- 6. Fred Thompson 2% 277 votes
- 7. Duncan Hunter 1% 91 votes
- 8. Tom Tancredo 0% 49 votes
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The results at Youpolls:
http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=1119
- Ron Paul 83.0%
- Mike Huckabee 7.2%
- John McCain 2.3%
- Mitt Romney 2.1%
- Duncan Hunter 1.9%
- Rudy Giuliani 1.6%
- Tom Tancredo 1.1%
- Fred Thompson 0.8%