Presidential hopefuls grilled in internet debate

Young, internet-savvy voters challenged Democratic presidential hopefuls on Iraq and their own place in a broken political system, playing starring roles in a provocative, video-driven debate.

“Wassup?” came the first question, from a voter named Zach, after another, named Chris, opened the CNN-YouTube debate with a barb aimed at the entire eight-candidate field: “Can you as politicians … actually answer questions rather than beat around the bush?”

The answer was a qualified yes. The candidates faced a host of blunt questions - from earnest to the ridiculous – and, in many cases, responded in kind.

To Senator Barack Obama of Illinois: Are you black enough? “You know, when I’m catching a cab in Manhattan … I’m giving my credentials,” he replied. Blacks frequently complain that New York cab drivers drive by without picking them up.

To Senator Hillary Clinton of New York: Are you feminine enough? “I couldn’t run as anything other than a woman,” she said.

The debate featured questions submitted to the online video community YouTube and screened by the all-news cable TV network CNN.

A talking snowman and a woman speaking from her bathroom were among the odd, 21st-century twists to the oldest forum in politics – a debate.

A Michigan man asked about gun control while brandishing an automatic weapon.

“He needs help,” Senator Joe Biden of Delaware snapped.

When was the last time a presidential candidate was forced to promise to work at minimum wage? That is effectively what seemed to happen when a voter asked whether the candidates would serve four years at $5.85 (€4.23) an hour rather than the president’s annual $400,000 (€289,000) salary.

“Sure,” replied Clinton.

Obama said the group could afford to do so. When Dodd started to protest, Obama cut him off with a joke: “You’re doing OK, Chris.”

The gathering was held at the military college of The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, site of one of the earliest primary elections in the 2008 presidential campaign – January 29. The Democrats skirmished over the Iraq war, as they had before.

Asked if Democrats were playing politics with the war, Republican Dennis Kucinich of Ohio said yes. “The Democrats have failed the people,” he said.

Former Alaska senator Mike Gravel said US soldiers were dying in vain. No other candidate would go that far.

Obama took the opportunity to take a slap at his rivals who voted to give Bush authority to invade Iraq, including Clinton and Edwards.

“The time to ask how we’re going to get out of Iraq was before we got in,” he said, without naming Clinton, Edwards and other foes.

On another foreign policy topic, Biden said he would send 2,500 US troops to Darfur in western Sudan to try to end the fighting there between ethnic African rebels and pro-government Arab militias.

It took three tries to get Clinton to answer the same questions. She finally said American ground troops did not belong in the fight because they were overextended in Iraq.

She also refused to call herself a liberal. “I prefer the word progressive, which has a very American meaning,” she said.

Clinton, Obama and Edwards lead in most polls of the Democratic field.

The Democratic gathering marked a turning point in political communications. CNN, a landmark all-news cable network when founded 27 years ago, is now part of a media establishment coming to terms with upstarts like the two and a half-year-old online video community.

YouTube has already left its mark on politics. Republican George Allen lost his US Senate seat in Virginia and a likely spot in the 2008 presidential race after a YouTube video caught him referring to a man of South Asian decent as “macaca” – an ethnic slur in some countries.

In the presidential campaign, buzz-worthy video clips have included Bill and Hillary Clinton’s spoof of The Sopranos finale, Edwards’ combing his hair to the tune I Feel Pretty, and a buxom model professing her crush on Obama.

In the spirit of the era, each candidate was asked to produce his or her own video.

Edwards’ video poked fun at the attention paid to his pricey haircuts at the expense of more serious issues. Set to the theme from the 1968 musical Hair, the video opens with several close-up of hairdos, giving way to less frivolous images including several from Iraq. It ends with a white-on-black slide: “What really matters? You choose.”

Clinton’s video-ad ended with the kicker: “Sometimes the best man for a job is a woman.”