by Paul Wylie

Created on: October 07, 2008

Why Forcing Answers From Candidates Is Imperative
Cat and mouse games would be a welcome respite from the day to day chasing around of the candidates for public office in order to obtain unscripted views from them. Playing hide and seek would be a preferable past time, rather than watch the U.S. media beg and plead for a sound bite from those who seek to hold the highest offices in our nation.

Everyone in the country is well aware of the refusal of the current Republican candidate for Vice President, Sarah Palin, to answer any questions by the media or by voters themselves unless the setting can be carefully controlled by her handlers. The same can be said for John McCain to a lesser extent. Speaking to a television station that is known to be a talking point distributor for one political party does not an objective accounting make. To this day, no one has any idea of the truth about the Republican candidates because of this refusal to answer questions, and by default, we have no idea of their fitness to hold high office. The situation would seem ridiculous were it not so serious. But when citizens of the United States, the supposed beacon of world freedom begins to resemble the old Soviet Union because of the actions of it's leaders and it's candidates, then it is obvious that changes are needed as to the way political campaigns are conducted.

This most unusual practice of not being open and honest with the American people is not without precedent. In recent years, other candidates for office have just refused to answer any and all questions in the hopes that the media would feel they couldn't run a story because they didn't have a quote from the candidate themselves. A case in point would be Rudy Giuliani's refusal to answer charges that he used the budgets of obscure New York City offices to pay for his lavish travel expenses. Campaign staffers would manhandle reporters into 'press areas' at campaign events, that is, until the glad handing began and they needed the media to take photos of a smiling ex mayor being the man about town.

Another case of candidate refusal to speak to the public in any form other than settings of their own spin worthy choosing would be what a Montana group called Project Vote Smart did in Idaho. They wanted to determine just how many lawmakers would answer questions from them. The group's board includes George McGovern and Newt Gingrich. Interestingly, and most telling, John McCain was on the group's board but was kicked off after

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