Always check the microphone!
Hillary Clinton and John Edwards don’t seem like having a lot of their fellow Democratic candidates at presidential forums  or at least that’s what they said when they didn’t know the microphone was on.
According to an Associated Press story, a conversation between Clinton and Edwards in which they complained about the number of candidates taking part was picked up by several broadcasters on an open microphone after an NAACP forum in Detroit on Thursday. All eight Democratic candidates took part in the program, including Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich.
Edwards was heard suggesting to Clinton that they try to exclude some of their rivals from future gatherings: “We should try to have a more serious and a smaller group.�
Clinton agreed, saying the forums were “trivialized� with too many candidates crowding the stage.
The conversation drew a rebuke this morning from Kucinich.
“Candidates, no matter how important or influential they perceive themselves to be, do not have and should not have the power to determine who is allowed to speak to the American public and who is not,â€? Kucinich said in a statement released by his campaign.
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It looks like the self-proclaimed “people’s choice” candidates really don’t want to give the people a choice, after all. This one will have repercussions.
If it was next year and this happened, it would be different. But now is way too early for those two to think they can control who gets into the debates and who doesn’t.
I think they are tired of being presented with the truth to deal with, they would rather go on with their platitudes and present the American people with no choice(again) but pro corporation/war types.
Until and unless they have the qualifications of Kucinich, who read the ‘evidence’ before the war in Iraq and led the effort against it, who read the anti-Constitution Patriot act and led the effort against it…they have no right to exclude him.
Until they decide to uphold the Constitution by supporting the Impeachment Bush and Cheney, they are just as bad as Bush and his other enablers.
It is the followers of Bush who should be excluded by the American people. If they did not have the intelligence to see through the transparent evil and illegal plans of the Bush administration, they are not qualified to be president.
nadia
You are what we call in a “free” society” a “two-faced bigot”. Your first paragraph (althought one-sided) was somewhat accurate, but you let your “bias” get in the way of making the point. This had nothing to do with either the Constitution or Bush. Recommendation: when making a point, try keeping your bias from showing.
Let’s impeach Nadia, go back to Russia you tree hugging liberal!
just a typical dumocrat with liberal views and limited brains.
Nadia,
My microphone isn’t on so you have to read this instead.
BEEEEATCH!
Bob
The comments of Clinton and Edwards show more than just a lack of consideration for our political process, they indicate a willingness on their parts to muzzle it. The tendency of Hilary Clinton to try and strong arm her oposition instead of listen to it has been a recurring theme. Can anyone believe she will listen after elected if she is more interested in her own agenda than that of the peoples? I have been looking for someone far more open and willing to engage in dialog. My money is on Barack Obama as the new leader.
Forget Hilary and Edwards! Let’s go all the way! Ho Chi Minh for President. How do you like that Nadia?
Ha! When a “liberal” calls a spade a spade, it’s bigotry. When a “conservative” is a bigot, I suppose he’s just straight-talkin’? Nothing riles like reality.
Enjoy your backwash, dead-enders.
Pfffft, whats that gurgling noise? Oh, you swallowing the back wash.
pffffft
I did not call her a bigot because of her politicial point of view, but how she responded. Your bigotry is showing by your response.
Limiting debate among a single party is shady, limiting American’s voters to 2 parties/2 candidates is even worse, it reduces the endgame to trashing their opponent and “debate” loses all meaning. Want them to listen? Commit yourself, as I have to PROTEST VOTING for the next couple of cycles. By this I mean, get out there and vote but never for a member of the 2 major parties. Of course if you like a candidate and believe in them as a leader, by all means, but if you are despondent over the lack of representation and breadth of alternatives available, protest voting is a method of reducing the stranglehold both of the rediculous “parties” have on American politics. Have a friend that doesn’t vote but for a reason, this provides them with a reason, and a good one if you believe this is a great country and worthy of revolution in political and social discourse.
To Tom, LK, Leroy and Bob,
Who’s got bias? Maybe you folks should take a look in the mirror. What does tree-hugging have to do with the fact that our most honorable young men and women are dying so trans-national corporations can increase their profits? It doesn’t take a liberal to see that our country will be bankrupt soon, and that China will dominate the world with their communist state-run companies, and virtually unlimited manpower. Maybe you guys should read about the history of the Vietnam “conflict”, where the war went on and on for the benefit of big business…get a f*cking clue!
Tom,
If you want to effectively debate with people you should refrain from personal attacks, such as calling someone a two-faced bigot, and stick to the issues at hand. Otherwise, you weaken your own argument.
You should also take a look in the mirror. Why are you putting unnecessary quotes around words that don’t need them? Also, Nadia makes a cogent point, in that Kucinich actually has the audacity to do his job the way it’s supposed to be done while the name brand players, Clinton and Edwards, are already trying to narrow the field. They want to narrow our choices for a new President and marginalize candidates who didn’t buy into the Bush rhetoric that dissent is unpatriotic. I don’t think hearing more viewpoints from potential leaders of this nation is in any way “trivializing” the politic process. Lastly, Nadia has no obligation to present an unbiased analysis of the above article, she is putting forth her opinion, just like you did.
craig,
first, I was in Vietnam, I have first-hand experience, do you? Second, you live in a capitalist country. What don’y you understand. Third, if you don’y like it here, leave. And finally, I am niether a liberal or conserverative. Why are you so easy with labeling people?
Mike,
Good point.
tom,
Craig never said he did not like living in America he just doesn’t agree with some of our policies which isn’t the same otherwise California should break away from the union since most Californians hate the current administration and the policies they are pursuing.
Why were any of them at a naacp forum Obama is their man
Any group (or pair) of candidates can agree to have a debate with each other at any time, provided that they can find someone to broadcast it (whether a cable network, C-Span, or even just a webcast). Thus, if Clinton and Edwards wanted to have a one-on-one debate, they would have every right to do so; of course no one has to watch it if they don’t want to. Likewise, Kucinich and Gravel could have their own one-on-one debate as well… might be pretty interesting. Edwards has a point; the debates so far haven’t been very “serious”, in that no one really has enough air time to really discuss anything in depth. So I’d like to see some smaller debates in addition to the kind of stuff that they’ve been doing so far.
I don’t like Bush and I don’t support the war in Iraq.
But how is the war unconstitutional?
Did you forget that Congress approved it?
If Congress had not approved, it might be debateable whether the President has the power to wage a war for 4+ years… but they did.. so..
We should have invaded Pakistan and found Osama Bin Laden, but thats even further off-topic..
While all the garbage will play out in the presidental race Louisiana will elect as our governor the only person qualified to be our next president. To Louisiana goes the spoils.
Man, I wish California could break away from the ignorant, bible-thumping, “Morally conservative”, inbred southeastern part of this country. And anyone who would defend Bush and his money-grubbing cronies instantly places themselves in the idiot column where they can and should be be ignored.
I agree—why don’t we get Hilary and Edwards off the stage for starters?
bush bush bush
4 more years
4 more years
4 more years
Why shouldn’t Edwards and Clinton want to exclude the “jokes” from their stage. After Ralph Nader elected George Bush in 2000, you would think people who usually support Democrats would drop the facade and act realistically— Let’s elect someone who will by and large support the interests of the people.
These candidates are citizens as much as the rest of us and they can express their opinions as much as the rest of us.
Open mike or off mike, I agree. I would like to see a debate with the top 4/5 contenders.
And I know, you’re going to cry out who decides who these top 4/5 are. Let the polls, the cash, the public interest set this.
Really, does anyone think Dennis K. will become President of the United States???
God is in controll he already has a plan
While everyone is arguing about what they said that was caught, I wish we could turn on all the microphones during these things. Forget Fake Reality shows, lets make the presidential debate a reality show. Candidates are required to keep a microphone on them so that we can really see who we are voting for. No more would we watch a well staged show, now we would see the people for who they are and their faults. We’d hear their true opinions on things rather than the written speeches they always give.
I Figure that if we have to pay their salaries till they die, the least we can do is see who they are. I am tired of political rhetoric and bs always being shoveled my way for my vote and then after elected, all the promises are ignored.
Wanna be my president? You’re gonna have to live with a little discomfort while I get to know who you really are.
peter—
Whoa! Now there’s an interesting new thought. I’m sure I’m not the only one who believes California SHOULD break away from the Union. They could become a Mexican state! And see where that leads them.
“Thanks to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of human beings, either a liberal or a conservative.”
-Kurt Vonnegut
The more I listen to both sides of the street the more I think we need more parties and even more choices.
That being said, I respect all Americans and their points of view.
http://www.unity08.com has given me a new hope as an Independent. Maybe it’ll work or maybe it’s a pipe dream, but it’s a start.
Hi Bryan,
Another AWAD subscriber I see!
To Californian…Interesting, but a whole lot
of folks in the US, not just the Southeast,
are hoping to see oceanfront land in Nevada.
You know how that would come to be, don’t you? LOL.
Wake up people, Bush WAS voted in.(twice) Have you people forgotten that. Do you also remember before 9-11 planes were falling from the sky all the time. Someone needs to do the math. How many have, since that nightmare happened. We must fight for our freedom. Open mike???? who really cares.
I thought W was GOD? Or at least, REEEEEAL close to it.
Kucinich? Man, he’d be strong the finich…
Funny….ripping on CA. The most progressive and responsible state in the Union.
Same posters probably think Sadam was repsonsible for 911 and that Jesus is going to float back to Earth in a yellow ribbon laden HUM V any day now…..sheesh….
What’s to argue about? Clinton and Edwards were exposed. They probably might run together on a ticket for the White House.
Politics in this country is nothing new. Bill Clinton let NAFTA pass. The first Bush drew it up true, but it shows that one had washes the other. What did Bush 2 do? Follows his fathers agenda to the T by pre-emptively attacking Iraq, and forming the Security Prosperity Partnership of North America (2010). Foreign lobbyists, pack money, corruption taint politics.
Now here is the thing. These foreign/corporate interests are tired of being in the shadows. Side with them and our system is happy to take your taxes (if you didn’t get laid off) but speak against them and become labelled as unpatriotic.
The Bush and Clinton families have been in power for a consecutive 28 years. If we don’t make a change now, by 2012 we might not be able to.
WHAT IF, Edwards knew the mic was on and he provoked Hilary into this conversation. I mean why not? His numbers have fallen way off and she is one of the 2 front running dems??? Just a thought.
MO—
From Hollywood to Redmond to (sadly) Cupertino—just where does that reality distortion field emminate from?
There are about 10 million people named “Jesus”
already in California. Only they pronouce it differently.
They didn’t get there in any expensive vehicles, either.
dondre—
“pack money”?? Are you saying the Sierra Club is involved in this, too?
When the people of the United States start voting and acting on the behalf of our own country and it’s people then and only then will we be the great country we once were. When I hear God is in control and he has a plan, it makes me ill. I guess his plan is to let us destroy ourselves and anyone who disagrees with our god. Whoever that might be. Mine used to be Santa until I found he wasn’t real. Candidates like Kucinich should be appluaded for thier views and work that are outside of what big business and lobbyists put forth. Let’s grow up, recognize the problems within this country and solve those before we try to destroy other nations and steal thier oil for our leaders profits and thier imaginary gods. Check our educational rankings, infant mortality rates, poverty levels, crumbling infrastucture, then vote for the person who may actually devote our taxes and efforts to solve those problems rather than protecting Isreal, and interfering with the rest of the worlds local and trumped up religious beliefs and affairs.
Thanks everyone for the love and caring position on California. It always makes me all warm and fuzzy to see the love we get from the rest of the country.
Forget that we entertain the world with movies and TV. Forget that we have some of the top vineyards in the world. Don’t concern yourself that a vast majority of our population originated from other states and we don’t mind. Why should you care that we bust our backside to protect our environment because we see the impacts if we don’t.
Yet, we are the bad guys because a small percentage of our state is the stereotypical rich “beyond caring” society that deserves to be hated as they hate themselves. Fine, hate the people, but not the place…and I am the furthest thing from a tree hugger…but I still respect my home.
And thanks Ethan E for your interesting perspective on my home. I am curious if your intention is to get a rise out of the readers or you truly feel that way.
I have been lucky enough to travel to just about every state in the US throughout my life and in each I have found great places and kind people.
Who cares that their mic was on? If anything it allows us to get a glimpse of who they really are and what they believe. Not that you have to guess that the two in question have a bit of a superiority complex…no…really?
That’s okay…I had my mic on over on the other side and they all said, “Next time we have one of these things, let’s not invite Hillery and John.”
Erik – Good post and a very intersting idea. The problem is that no one with the slightest degree of competence would even entertain a run for public office if the people actually got to know the true inner being of the candidate. That becomes obvious when an open microphone creates this degree of acrimony.
People that would like to eliminate democracy might prefer to support a decider in chief or communist dictator but thats not America. If someone has an opinion that differs from yours you should 1. Be thankful they are allowed to expess their opinion (not to be confused with tantrums and name-calling) 2. Debate the subject on an informed adult level if possible. A democratic society with freedom of speech should be celebrated and inclusive. I would not be out on a limb saying this administration has muzzleded dissent on issues that our soldiers are dying to protect as we speak. For the sake of arquments and enlightenment, it would be to everyones advantage if upon entering a debate, one should be as educated as possible on the subject so you have something substantive to say regardless of your bias.
I personally believe that by their statements, Clinton and Edwards have lost sight of what the American political process is meant to be. Obviously they don’t have the good of the nation in mind, but rather the furthering of their own agendas. The greatest thing is that none of us have to vote for them. We can all vote for the candidate that best follows our ideals, goals, and values. I think we should do away with political parties and just have independent. All the money the parties throw into the mix makes the entire process unbalanced.
I’m not conservative or liberal, republican or democrat, more middle of the road and full of common sense.
What this country needs is someone who actually tells the truth and wants what is best for the people of this great nation. There needs to be the gray area in politics, where politicians do what is right for the nation even if it’s not in line with their personal beliefs.
For example, Rudy Giuliani’s statement that he is personally against abortion, but believes it should be a woman’s right to choose(this isn’t a plug for Giuliani, just using him as an example). Why can’t there be gray areas like that in politics, why does everything have to be so black and white?
Craig:
If you haven’t been paying attention to the global economy, China is on it’s way out (probably in the next 3-4 years) as the global industrial superpower. This is because they have recently doubled their export tax and have allowed the value of their currency to rise against the USD (almost all international business is conducted in US Dollars). This makes all of their products much more expensive, taking away the main advantage they had over every other industrial nation; cheap production. So, demand for products made in China will drop as they will be produced cheaper in places like India and South East Asia (Vietnam, Laos, Thailand), making a huge hit to the Chinese economy. Unlimited manpower means nothing unless you charge less for it.
Tom:
From one vet to another, thank you for your service.
I agree with all the candidates that 30 or 60 seconds is not enough time to develop a meaningful answer to critical questions. I’m certain most viewers dislike the time limits. That Dennis Kucinich takes his candidacy seriously is amusing, when he doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in Haiti of being elected. His utopian views are commendable, but hardly realistic. He should read Bill Clinton’s “My Life” to find out what a new president faces in the real world. I have no problem with what Clinton and Edwards said. My bet is each candidate has complained about the limited answer time.
The solution isn’t to remove people from the debate, but to make the debate longer to allow each individual to answer completely (within reason of course).
Why is this no surprise. $400.00 hair cuts, private jet travel, as usual Democrats wanting to leave out people who probably have more and better things to say. I am ready to become a Rebublican again.
This page is a perfect example of why the supposedly oh-so-influential “blogosphere” and “new media” have zero credibility.
90% of the posters are misinformed, 70% are pushing an agenda not related to the topic and a good 50% simply launch personal attacks on the other posters. I’m through wasting my time with this sort of drivel.
I should have signed my first post to Erik as Peter B and not as Peter since that is someone else. I agree with a lot of what is said here. We need change big time. Why can’t a majority of us demand it? Why do we fall in line behind the big names? Why can’t we concentrate on the issues? Can we think? Can we make a difference?
I hope so. I hope we can help the armed forces. I hope we can not put them at risk. I hope that we will not have another Vietnam. I was on the other side in the early 1970’s and a member of the National Guard. When Kent State happened, it was truly frightening. Please, let’s not do it again. The youth deserve better. They are voluntary. Please support them regardless about your belief in the effort. Maybe GW is right, but probably he is way overboard. Maybe John Kerry aws right, but I suspect that he was reaching too. God bless the USA and God Bless all that read this!
Wow! A lot of good thoughts!
We have a diverse country, with a lot of dynamic opinions.
Can’t we all get a long!
Conservative is not a bad word nor is liberal a bad one.
The tug of these two leads to a middle which is the position the founders wanted most of all to protect.
I have voted for Bush and voted once for Clinton and cannot wait to see who will survive the two party nominations.
As with the above, GOD Bless AMIERICA.
to the truth:
“just a typical dumocrat with liberal views and limited brains.”
it was certainly limited brains that got us into Iraq : total ignorance of that country’s recent and past history; total disregard of Middle East experts in the State Department and top generals in the Pentagon. This would include Gen. Anthony Zinni who is said to read everything he can get his hands on about countries where our military is involved – he seems to be one of the few Amercians who even does this.
In this pre-election time everyone is entitled to have their opinions heard, not just the self-appointed leaders of the pack. I for one would like to hear more that what they think I want to hear.
Only congress can declare war against another country, and these self-appointed leaders basically all took part in making this happen. At 10 Billion dollars a day to keep in going, and financed by (who do you think), is it any wonder they all want to distance them from it. what good in our own country do you think we could have done with all of the money that has been spent so far over the past six years?
Everyone wants their religious God to win over someone else’s. Which one is the head God, anyway? God, whether he or she, (gender has not been established nor proven), and if they exist at all, probably would be wise to stay out of this whole humanity thing. We have managed to make s shambles out our house, and no blessings can possibly make it right anymore.
Had the “offenders” been any other duo, this would not be an issue, and it shouldn’t be now-
Our country has an imperial executive branch who disregards the other 2 co-equal branchesThis is the elephant in the room that should be discussed, as it endangers our republic, not the side shows such as this onePrioritize our discussions to save our republic, or a new Dante will educate future generations-frankly having worked closely with elected officials and
candidates for over 30 years I am really not at all surprised that these democratic candidates said what they
did…it is natural human behavior to want to win and
if you need to narrow the debate fied to do it..well that’s
just politics…what surprises me is the reaction by
the liberal posters to this behavior..a little bit like
casablanca when claude reigns says “I;m shocked that
there is gambling, shocked” it is the primary reason
over the years that I cannot identify with the liberals
who want the system to be utopian…they are unrealistic
and cyncical in their own right..that doesn’t mean
that republicans are always right..it simply means
that reality never really enters into liberal reasoning