:: debating the debate ::

i was in toronto for a few months in 2001. one of the tv channels there had a feature - anyone can pay a buck, walk into a room with a camera and say whatever for a minute and if accepted, it would be broadcast. i thought it was pretty cool. last night, i watched the cnn-youtube republican debate and was amazed with the way the concept evolved.

there is so much being said about the content of the debate. so i won't go into that. i just wanted to debate the idea of average people like me being able to directly ask questions of presidential candidates.

:: pros ::

:: about 5000 questions were submitted and that would have covered a number of "real" issues that people are facing.
:: the idea is great, it is motivating to a lot of people to watch the debate and hopefully results in better awareness of issues, each candidate's position on them, and may be increase voting rate even.
:: it is interesting and encouraged people like me to watch.
:: it is using technology and encouraging innovations like youtube.com.

:: cons ::

:: i absolutely believe that there has to be a dress code imposed for people asking these questions. i am not a citizen, i can't even vote and i felt really bad with the way people appeared in these videos to talk to a potential president of the united states. i thought these candidates deserve more respect and they earned it.
:: the filtering process - i thought the questions selected were not great and not reflective of the real issues facing america. so a number of people may feel like they had wasted their time posting videos and could get discouraged for future debates. i hope not.

on a lighter note, i heard something recently on a talk show, really liked it and wanted to share. hillary clinton made a statement a while ago like "i could have stayed home and baked cookies but decided to do something with my life" (not verbatim). i am sure a lot of people were unhappy with that statement. so a stay-home-mom called and gave her response - she was going out to buy some stuff at a grocery store and her husband asked what she was doing. she responded saying "you know, i could be a senator but i decided to do something with my life and bake some cookies for my kids for thanksgiving" :)

two weeks from now, i may become eligible to vote in this great country!

good day.

:: anil ::