CBS News just poked Bush about his "town hall meetings"

[Cush]

and how everyone is screened, at that it won't be the same tonight.

[pmbryant]

1. Tonight's people are being screened too

A different screen, but a strict one. It seems so contrived to me to allow only uncomitted voters to ask questions. What about the 95% of the rest of us who know enough to have made up our minds by now?

:eyes:

Peter

[Nevernose]

3. No kidding

Whoever these "undecideds" are, they must be total and complete morons. I expect such hard-hitting questions as "Why should I drink light beer if I like regular beer better?" and "I like cats."

[progressivebydesign]

19. No, no, no.. they're AREN"T undecideds.. here's the scoop:

Here's how it is supposed to work:

Gallup, inc., supposedly got the attendees from phone polling in St. Louis. Gallup now states that 0% of the public is ACTUALLY undecided now. So.. they went through a series of questions, and I believe they did not tell them they were being screened for the debates. The question was if they chose a candidate, and then if they might still be persuaded to vote for the other guy. It's called a "soft supporter", I think. SOmeone who thinks they've made up their mind, but still has doubts.

An equal number of Bush/Kerry softies are in the audience. They are spending the day together, eating lunch, dinner, etc. Getting practice with the mics, and composing their questions. The questions are allegedly turned into to Charlie Gibson, and he will decided which ones to use. Gallup and the debate officials insist that only Gibson will see the questions.. AND the askers won't know until they are called upon, if their question was used. The asker's mics will be turned off immediately after asking the question, to keep from follow up questions. (which is dumb, because sometimes a candidate wants or needs clarifications!).

BTW you owe them an apology, they aren't undecideds.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. At least this is not one of Bush's weekly "Nurmeberg Rally's"....

that he calls "campaign stops".

[Cha]

5. We don't count...cause we unpersuadable!

Sometimes I wish I didn't give a shit!

[Eric J in MN]

10. The Constitution starts "We, the People,"

not "We, the Undecided People."

People with opinions count, too.

[SoCalDemocrat]

22. Audience is partisan

Don't fool yourself. Bush would never agree to subject himself to questions from non-kooliad drinkers.

[Junkdrawer]

2. Sorry, but Gallup (of the pro-Bush poll fame) is going to select...

the "undecideds" tonight. Bill O'Reilly calls himself an undecided, and I wouldn't be surprised to find tonight's audience filled with pro-Bush "undecideds".

And then, Charles Gibson of ABC gets to filter those questioners.

I would love to see Bush have to answer real questions. Tonight won't be it.

[Cha]

6. We'll all be on the edge of our seats to see,

if indeed, if that it is played out before our eyes..I wish we had some recourse if it's as bad as we think it's going to be..I don't doubt you for a second..I just hope it ain't so:(

[Junkdrawer]

8. Gotta take the bitter with the sweet...

In exchange for two "real" debates, this was their price.

[Cha]

18. Yeah, I'm thinking their strategy is for

Kerry to connect to the Nationwide audience! :fingerscrossed:

[progressivebydesign]

20. Read my post above... the questions will be chosen tonight..

.. the potential askers were chosen already, and spent the day practising using the mic, etc., in case they are called upon. If Gallup is straight up, and Gibson is straight up, then this was a great way to do this!!! If we can count on them to be non-partisan in this.

I had a wake up call seeing some freeper posts, copied over here today. For every time we are suspicious, or cyncial about something or someone favoring the Bush crowd, they are the same way.. it was sort of funny. THEY are accusing Gallup and Gibson of being anti-Bush.. like a parallel universe.

[Junkdrawer]

24. "If Gallup is straight up, and Gibson is straight up"...

Big, big Ifs, given Gallup's recent questionable methodologies that artificially inflate Bush's polling numbers.

[doc03]

7. NBC did too. They said Bush* has only been taking questions from

his supporters. While John Kerry has taken questions from over 70 unscreened audiences this year.

[indyjones1938]

9. Yes it will

Tonight's debate is not a "town hall" meeting in any sense.

The questions have all been pre-screened and selected by the GOP-loyal moderator Charlie Gibson. In the end, he's the one choosing what questions will be posed tonight. Any questions hostile to Bush are already on the cutting room floor.

Furthermore, the so-called "undecideds" in the audience tonight are all selected by the GOP-bankrolled Gallup Organization.

And finally, the candidates were given the questions in advance and have prepared responses accordingly. Bush will come in tonight with well-spoken and cogent responses after his hours of practicing with Karl and Karen. Well, cogent by his standards at least.

A true "town hall" is what both Kerry and Edwards encounter every day while campaigning -- questions out of the blue from audience members, no clue what those questions will be beforehand. No pre-screened audiences and no cutting room floor for hostile questions.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

11. Given questions in advance? I don't think that is accurate

[pacalo]

14. It isn't accurate. Only Gibson & the questioners are privy to the ?'s.

At least, that's what they're saying.

[Junkdrawer]

12. Mostly right, but, in theory, the candidates are not being given a...

heads up on the questions. I'll bet Kerry won't but I'm not so sure Gibson won't leak to Bush.

[indyjones1938]

15. er

Both candidates were given the questions in advance of the debate. This has been mentioned extensively here and elsewhere. This was a part of the agreement.

The role of the "audience member" is merely to read their question, which has already been vetted by Gibson and passed along to the candidates before the debate.

It was also mentioned that if the audience member divests from their planned question and tries to throw a curveball, Gibson basically will tell them to shut up and sit down.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

16. WRONG

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=2&aid=72035

On the October 8 debate, citizens will be allowed to ask questions. The moderator will review the questions, but nobody else is allowed to see the questions. If the questioner tries to pull a bait and switch, and ask a question that is different from the one the person submitted, the moderator is supposed to cut them off. And shut off the microphone. The audience members for the "Town Meeting" will be made up of equal numbers of so-called "soft Bush" supporters and "soft Kerry" supporters. The Gallup organization will find the people who will ask questions.
The campaigns are forbidden from contacting the citizens who will be asking questions for the October 8 forum.

[AirAmFan]

17. Don't take third-hand info. Debate Commission says no advance access

to the questions was provided to either Kerry or to Stupid: "neither the Commission nor the campaigns will review the questions":

From http://www.debates.org/pages/news_041007a.html

"Commission Statement on October 8, 2004 Town Hall Style Debate

October 7, 2004

The Commission on Presidential Debates has received a number of inquiries concerning certain aspects of the town hall debate to be held on the campus of Washington University at St. Louis on Friday, October 8, 2004. The debate will be moderated by Charlie Gibson of ABC News. The questions will be formulated by the town hall participants and neither the Commission nor the campaigns will review the questions. Mr. Gibson, as moderator, will be solely responsible for selecting the questions that will be asked during the debate, keeping in mind the goals of addressing a wide range of topics during the debate and attempting to spend approximately equal amounts of time on foreign and domestic issues.

The town hall participants will be comprised of uncommitted voters, including uncommitted voters not described as "soft Bush" or "soft Kerry." The details of the participant selection process were worked out at the Commission's request in discussions between Dr. Frank Newport, Editor-in Chief of the Gallup Poll, and representatives of the Bush and Kerry campaigns. Dr. Newport has described the format as follows in an article posted today at Gallup's website (www.gallup.com):

Friday Night's Debate

Friday night's debate will be in a town hall format. Although ABC News' Charles Gibson will be moderating the debate, the questions will be asked by a random sample of uncommitted voters from the St. Louis Metropolitan area, selected by The Gallup Organization. ...

The basic procedure is very similar to those used when Gallup conducts a normal poll. Gallup begins with a random probability sample of the St. Louis area, asks people a series of questions to determine if they qualify as an uncommitted voter, and then invites them to be a participant in the debate if they qualify.

Although over 100 participants will be on stage behind Bush and Kerry, the 90-minute format means that only about 20 people will actually end up asking questions. Under the terms of the debate agreement hammered out by the two campaigns, moderator Gibson will select the questioners and will attempt to keep the questions roughly balanced between foreign and domestic issues. "

[Grillydad]

23. Who cares if he leaks

Kerry will still have a pretty good idea of the subjects and the questions. We have good professionals working for us, too. I'm inclined to believe that Kerry thinking on his feet is better, more informative, more likable and more sensible than the President. I like his chances.

[MaineDem]

13. I don't think candidates have the questions in advance

But what do I know? :shrug:

I trust nothing anymore.

[lolly]

21. Doesn't Matter for either debator

It doesn't matter whether Kerry knows in advance, because he has the experience to answer tough questions off -the-cuff.

It doesn't matter whether AWOL knows in advance, because he'll give the same canned response to whatever question he gets, whether it's relevant to the question or not (or didn't anyone notice that this is what he did in the Gore debates?)

The question is, will the media CALL HIM ON IT this time? Last time no one bothered to mention that he answered questions about taxes on single people with bizarre answers about making America safer (yeah, he sure followed through on that . . . )