|
Cnn regrets planting debate questions { November 11 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23966-2003Nov10.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23966-2003Nov10.html
'Light' Not Quite Right for This Forum
By Howard Kurtz
Tuesday, November 11, 2003; Page A04
The student who asked the most ridiculed question at CNN's "Rock the Vote" debate last week -- "Macs or PCs?" -- says it wasn't her idea.
Alexandra Trustman said yesterday that a CNN producer called her on the morning of the Boston forum and suggested she ask about the Democratic presidential candidates' computer preferences. Puzzled by the request, she writes in Brown University's Daily Herald, she drafted a more complicated question about how the candidates would use technology.
But in Boston, Trustman said, she was handed a notecard with the digital-age equivalent of the boxers-or-briefs choice put to Bill Clinton. She wrote that she told the producer "I didn't see the question's relevance," but that he rejected her proposed query "because it wasn't light-hearted enough and they wanted to modulate the event with various types of questions."
Trustman said she was informed that the network "thought it would be a good opportunity for the candidates to relate to a younger audience."
CNN spokesman Matthew Furman said, "In an attempt to encourage a lighthearted moment in this debate, a CNN producer working with Ms. Trustman clearly went too far. CNN regrets the producer's actions."
Trustman is clearly miffed by the criticism: "Not one person bothered to inquire or find out the truth about the incident."
No Holiday for Senate
While the House and the rest of the federal government take today off to observe Veterans Day, the Senate will remain in session in hopes of finishing its work in time to adjourn for the year by Thanksgiving.
But, with tensions running high between Republicans and Democrats, especially over the GOP's plan for a 30-hour debate this week on judicial nominations, even the question of working on Veterans Day became a partisan issue. Democrats say they were duped into agreeing to work on the holiday to help wrap up spending bills, only to discover that Republicans were planning the judicial talkathon for the following evening.
Republicans denied any connection between working on Veterans Day and scheduling the debate over judges. They blame Democrats for delaying action on spending bills.
Yesterday, Senate Democrats conducted a talkathon of their own. Minority Whip Harry M. Reid (Nev.) held the floor all afternoon and into the night with a speech deploring President Bush's record on job creation and urging the GOP to engage in more bipartisan cooperation.
Wilson's New Focus: Kerry
The ambassador has a new portfolio.
Former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, whose wife's identity as a CIA operative was leaked by the Bush administration, has become a rainmaker for Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry. "The Bush White House tried to intimidate me and to discourage others from exposing the lies they told to justify the war," he wrote in an e-mail sent last week by Kerry's campaign.
Wilson, who last summer challenged some claims the administration used to justify the Iraq war, continues: "Some people have said I was courageous to speak truth to the power of the Bush White House. But let me tell you, what I have done doesn't hold a candle to the courage that John Kerry showed as a young man and throughout his political career."
As was the case when discussing uranium in Niger, Wilson was not shy: "Your donation will help. Please pledge now. You can CLICK HERE to make a pledge."
If only finding the leaker were as easy.
Staff writers Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank contributed to this report.
© 2003 The Washington Post Company
|
|
