CNN/YouTube Republican Debate: A Question-by-Question Analysis

Overview and Summary

Over 4,900 video questions were submitted to YouTube for the November 28 CNN/YouTube Republican Debate. Of those, one song and 32 questions made the cut to be presented to the candidates. Not every candidate answered every question. The candidates involved in the debate, in alphabetical order, are: Rudy Guilliani, Mike Huckabee, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Sen. John McCain, Rep. Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Rep. TomTancredo, and Fred Thompson. The debate moderator was CNN's Anderson Cooper.

Key Issues

Though many issues were addressed in this debate, the key ones were immigration, abortion, the war in Iraq, and gun control. A few of the other topics presented were religion, the national debt, and baseball.

Below is a review of the key issues, as well as the questions asked pertaining to each. Each topic is accompanied by an overview of each question with analysis as to how each respondent handled the question. For each topic, a 'winner' is declared. All winners of topics and questions are noted in bold. For the purpose of brevity, each candidate will be referred to by last name only.

Key Issue #1: Immigration

"Will you make America a 'sanctuary city' country?"

Respondents: Giuliani and Romney

Result: They both had moments of smooth talking, and moments of embarrassment. Romney kept his cool better than Giuliani who was visibly upset by Romney calling him on the carpet about his claims. Romney wins this question by a nose, but only because his facts against Giuliani were actually fact, while Giuliani twisted the facts to try to gain points over Romney. People who do that appear desperate, which does not bode well for voter confidence.

"Will you pledge to veto amnesty for illegal immigrants?"

Respondents: Guiliani, McCain, Tancredo, and Thompson