Facebook co-sponsors N.H. debate, not without controversy
NASHUA, N.H.--First it was Google co-sponsoring two YouTube presidential debates with CNN. And now it's Facebook co-sponsoring debates Saturday here in New Hampshire.
But while the YouTube/CNN debates were relatively inclusive, this week's Facebook/WMUR/ABC debates will be relatively exclusive. The reason for that is that a slew of candidates likely will be barred from participating, including Sen. Joe Biden, Sen. Chris Dodd, former Sen. Mike Gravel, Rep. Duncan Hunter, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
As the primary season continues, some winnowing of the field is inevitable, of course. Rep. Tom Tancredo, former Gov. Tom Vilsack, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, and, alas, Stephen Colbert have already dropped out voluntarily.
But the Facebook/WMUR/ABC debates are drawing fire because those candidates will likely be excluded even before the nation's first primary takes place here on January 8. (The Iowa caucuses are this evening, starting at 6:30 p.m. local time for the Democrats and half an hour later for the Republicans.)
"It is a perversion of the New Hampshire primary process to have serious, if long-shot, contenders excluded from this possibly significant TV exposure. All New Hampshire citizens should be insulted and affronted by it," wrote Joseph McQuaid, publisher of New Hampshire's Union Leader, in a front-page editorial on Thursday. The paper has endorsed Sen. John McCain.
The reason that I hedged a few paragraphs above by saying some candidates "likely" will be excluded is that the final lineup hasn't been set yet. Candidates hoping to be included will need to accomplish any one of three tasks: (a) place in the top four positions in the Iowa caucuses, (b) obtain 5 percent or higher in recent national polls, or (c) obtain 5 percent or higher in recent state polls.
The final lineup will be determined Friday morning. Saturday's debates will take place at Saint Anselm College with the Republicans debating first, followed by the Democrats. On a related note, Rep. Ron Paul--the only anti-war Republican--has been excluded from a follow-up Fox News debate on Sunday.
It's too early to know how these exclusions will play out, but it's fair to say that New Hampshire residents guard their traditional political role zealously and don't like companies (or anyone else) to limit their choices. While media organizations that have sponsored debates for decades are used to weathering this type of storm, Silicon Valley-based companies like Facebook may be about to realize that injecting themselves into politics can have costs as well as benefits.
Declan McCullagh, CNET News' chief political correspondent, chronicles the intersection of politics and technology. He has covered politics, technology, and Washington, D.C., for more than a decade, which has turned him into an iconoclast and a skeptic of anyone who says, "We oughta have a new federal law against this." E-mail Declan.
However, it applies to broadcasters using public airwaves, not to websites, and it doesn't apply to any appearance by a legally qualified candidate on any?
(1) bona fide newscast,
(2) bona fide news interview,
(3) bona fide news documentary (if the appearance of the candidate is incidental to the presentation of the subject or subjects covered by the news documentary), or
(4) on-the-spot coverage of bona fide news events (including but not limited to political conventions and activities incidental thereto)
When a candidate sets all-time fundraising records, has far more MeetUp groups that all Republican AND Democratic candidates combined, I'd hardly call him a long-shot. A long shot? Oh, yes... he scores low in the "official" polls.
The "polls" only ask those who are "likely to vote in the Republican Primary". How do the pollsters determine who they are? They ask those who voted in the 2004 primary. Bush was the unchallenged incumbent so only 6.6% of the Republicans voted. Who votes in a primary election for an incumbent presidential candidate? Only the most hard-core in the party... a handful of people who are the most steadfast components of the Republican "machine". I'd say that converting up to 10% of those, as the polls indicate, is a HUGE victory for Ron Paul!
There is clear evidence that many Democrats are switching parties to vote for Ron Paul. And then there are those who have never voted (i.e., Trevor Lyman - the guy who helped raise more than $10 million for Ron Paul) who are going to vote for the first time in their lives, and those Republicans who stopped voting decades ago because they simply gave up. All of these people don't show up in the "official polls" and they outnumber the old Republican dinosaurs by an astounding ratio.
I'll be very glad when the votes are finally cast in New Hampshire and Iowa. Barring outright vote fraud, the results of these two states' primaries will finally silent the "he can't win... he scores low in the polls" drum that, quite honestly, is giving me a headache.
Ron Paul 2008!
If either of these men become the democrats choice for presidential candidate, my vote will go to whomever but most assuredly neither of these men will get my vote. They both have ganged up in the boys network and done nothing but put Hillary down and then you attack her together tonight and you seem surprised when she fights back. I have seen less contention out of all the republicans running than the nastiness from Obama and Edwards. Where is the change? There are others out here who also have quit any party affiliation due to all this crap. You are not showing in your campaigning that you are for change. People are not stupid.
Most teaching is done by part-time faculty and graduate students for less than $20,000 per year.
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by Robyn_W
May 5, 2009 7:32 PM PDT
- http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/2009/04/30/scam-watch-fbstartercom-steals-facebook-users-passwords/
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