Four years ago, the idea of having a snowman asking questions about global warming to potential presidential nominees would have been nothing short of laughable. Fast forward to 2007 though, while it may still sound funny, candidates are definitely going to take it more seriously. In an effort to reach out to the new generation of voters who live a good part of their lives on the internet, CNN forged a partnership with cyber-giant Youtube to enable people to send in their questions for the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.
South Carolina played host to a totally new type of debate for the candidates as the Democrats took the questions head on. The topics of religion, same-sex marriages, abortion, stem cell research, immigration, terrorism and Iraq were all discussed. Follow-up questions were raised when necessary by the show’s moderator Anderson Cooper – best known for his work with CNN.
The front runners clearly had their game face on. Current polls leader Hillary Clinton wore a pink suit that emphasized that she was the only woman candidate in any of the races. The wife of former president Bill Clinton managed to “feminize” her image a little bit more after being repeatedly criticized for being too ‘manly’ throughout the campaign. Illinois senator Barack Obama again projected his rockstar flair at the crowd as Charleston as he boldly answered the questions with resounding clarity that simply resonated through out the venue.
John Edwards, a vice-presidential candidate during the 2004 elections, was also cool and collected with his wife Elizabeth in attendance. Elizabeth recently announced that she had inoperable stage IV cancer.