Austin Improv

Anybody catch the YouTube/CNN debate? I plan on watching it again with my brain more fully engaged but going by gut impressions the awards go to:

Edwards gets the "most genuine" award. He looked troubled about issues that trouble him (gay marriage) and passionate about issues he cares about (poverty). :Up
Richardson gets the "should be someone's Sec'y of Education" award. Nice shot at "No Child Left Behind". :Up
Clinton gets "best prepped". I don't think she hesitated once. Waffled? Yes. Hesitated? No. :Neutral
Obama gets the "I must have contributed something" award. After I turned off the TV the only statement of his I could remember was the bit about hailing a cab in Manhattan. :Neutral
Kucinich gets the "Brass Balls" award for openly advocating the cutting off of war funding. However, also shares in the "We got it already" award for taking every opportunity to trumpet his stop-the-war text message scheme (at one point I swear I saw Anderson Cooper looking for something to throw at him). :Down
Gravel shares the aforementioned "We got it already" award for his endless carping about not getting equal time. If he'd spent the time he spent bitching talking about some issues... :Down
Biden gets the "You sure about that?" award for unequivocally stating that it will take a year to bring the troops home "if we started today". Showed a real fondness for the phrase "It's time to speak the truth" and then not saying much of anything. :Down
Dodd gets, um, nothing. :Who?

OK, these are gut impressions and I'll probably change my mind after reviewing the transcripts - but just wondered if anybody else had watched this.

I am watching the segments online now and after three questions I already hate most of the candidates. What I hate most is: "What we see happening in that question..." which has already happened a bunch with Obama and Edwards which is just code for "I am going to springboard off that question to talk about the pre-planned soundbytes that I want to talk about and ignore the question."

So far, I am appreciating Biden. He answered that Republican running mate straight away. No prefacing, no redirecting.

Haven't seen it yet, but people I've talked to in media who have were very dissapointed. From what I've heard, CNN seemed to choose the questions based on how outrageous they were and chose softballs instead of hard hitting ones. It painted a very unflattering picture of young, tech-savvy politically active people.

Brian Boyko wrote:Haven't seen it yet, but people I've talked to in media who have were very dissapointed. From what I've heard, CNN seemed to choose the questions based on how outrageous they were and chose softballs instead of hard hitting ones. It painted a very unflattering picture of young, tech-savvy politically active people.

Really? Yeah, well... it's still TV...

While I could have done without the snowman asking about global warming and the comedians(?) doing their yokel bit; I thought the brothers spoon feeding their Alzheimer's stricken father, the lesbians asking if they could get married and the wig-removing breast cancer patient had impact without going over into sensationalistic pathos.

I had to wonder why they picked one of the least articulate atheists they could find to help frame the religion-themed question (and how did that get mixed up with the guy cradling his "baby" - a semi-automatic weapon?).

Nah, the format wasn't perfect - but for a first run it wasn't bad. I think what I liked best wasn't that it demanded honest answers to tough questions - it didn't - but when the candidates did their rhetorical pirouettes into their stump speeches (as Asaf mentioned) it was glaringly obvious. Ultimately I think this format - hopefully with some fine-tuning - will catch on. The truth is simply that any moderator/newsperson asking a question on behalf of those who serve as caretakers for the elderly is never going to be as compelling as the same question asked by two guys wiping Gerber's Harvest Select off of their dad's chin. To me that's not sensationalism - that's a slice of reality.