Republican presidential candidates faced off in the unorthodox CNN/YouTube Republican Debate on Wednesday night, answering questions posed to them via YouTube videos.
The unconventional format, hosted by Anderson Cooper, was intended to give Americans a chance to solicit information helpful in choosing a candidate. About 40 of the more than 5,000 questions that were submitted prior to the debate were projected on stage, about issues such as immigration, national debt, gun control, abortion and the war in Iraq.
The immigration issue, which kicked off the debate, drew out heated statements and not quite subtle insults.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney criticized Rudy Giuliani for treating undocumented immigrants in New York City too liberally during his terms as mayor, by allowing them to report crimes, send their children to school and receive emergency health care.
Giuliani responded by highlighting his successes and attacking Romney for allowing the creation of sanctuary cities in Massachusetts and for employing illegal immigrants in his own house.
“It”˜s unfortunate, but Mitt generally criticizes people in a situation in which he’s had (the) worst record,” Giuliani said.
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee disagreed with several of his fellow candidates about college tuition rates for illegal aliens. “We are a better country than to punish children for what their parents did,” he said.
The Iraq War also provoked an intense conversation. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, repeatedly emphasized the need to get out of Iraq and bring the troops home.
“The best commitment we can make to the Iraqi people is to give them their country back,” Paul said.
Arizona Sen. John McCain, who returned from a Thanksgiving with the Iraqi troops, loudly disagreed with Paul. He expressed his support of the current strategy and claimed that the troops sent home the message, “Let us win.”
The candidates also discussed overturning Roe v. Wade and possible punishments for those who obtain or perform abortions if they are made illegal. The candidates primarily agreed that the power to make decisions about abortion should be returned to the states.
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson reiterated the need for cutting entitlements and reshaping programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
McCain also said he would cut pork: “As president of the United States, I’d take an old veto pen that Ronald Reagan gave me, and I’d veto every single pork barrel bill that comes across my desk.”
A question about inner city crime sparked a discussion of family values and improvements to education.
“It’s time in this country that we go back to the kind of values that allow kids to have moms and dads,” Romney said.
The video submissions also posed queries about the death penalty, interrogation tactics, the inclusion of gays and lesbians in the military, and the national debt.
The debate did not stay strictly serious: In response to a question about what Jesus would do about the death penalty, Huckabee said, “Jesus was too smart to ever run for public office.”
When asked about his gun collection, Thompson said, “I own a couple of guns but I’m not going to tell you what they are or where they are.”
Candidates Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., and Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., also debated. Alan Keyes, former assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, did not participate.
Representatives from Republican student groups on campus could not be reached at press time.