GOP still bawking on YouTube debates

By Libby Spencer

You have to love "logic" like this. Reid Wilson at Real Clear Politics says the GOP is not afraid of doing a YouTube debate and here's why.

Instead, Republicans' hesitancy to participate in the YouTube debate comes from having watched the Democratic YouTube debate. During the first try, Democrats had to answer difficult questions. [...]

Now, put yourself in the shoes of Rudy Giuliani's campaign, or Mitt Romney's campaign. Some of the questions Democrats were asked were not anything a consultant could expect, and that leads to danger. If you want your candidate to stay on message, why would you allow them to face questions the likes of which you are unable to predict? And why allow a possible future president of the United States to answer a question from a snowman?

Man, the focus on the stupid snowman is astounding. I didn't see the video but these guys know it wasn't really a snowman and was actually a question delivered by a real American, right? Right? Wilson sums up the GOP's courage in the last graf.

The Republican answer to the YouTube debate has nothing to do with the internet, and everything to do with limiting future debates to limit future risk.

Oh I get it. It's not fear of accountability. It's prudence. It might be bad for the candidate's image if he answered a question honestly, without being preprogrammed with a consultant approved soundbite that will play well on the evening's stenography session news. Way to show your leadership skills boys. I'm sure this same strategy would serve the country well in dealing with unexpected international events.

(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)