The New York Times reached out to 22 Democratic presidential candidates to ask them the same set of questions on video. Twenty-one accepted the invitation.
Joseph R. Biden Jr. declined to participate despite repeated requests since late April.
Most of the candidates visited the studio in our New York City office; for a few who could not, we traveled to Iowa, Texas and Washington, D.C. The sessions took place between the beginning of March and early June. During the interviews, we asked candidates to answer each question briefly — with a simple yes or no, or another terse, direct reply — before explaining their views at greater length.
One candidate, Elizabeth Warren, who was the first to be interviewed, returned for a second session after we added a number of questions to our initial list. We did not ask John Hickenlooper when his family first arrived in the United States because we added that question after his interview.
In the case of one question — regarding President Trump’s legal issues — the candidates answered at different points during the completion of the investigation by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, so their answers reflected the facts available to them at the time.
This is not just a transcription of their responses — it’s video clips of their answers with captions so you can see and hear them as well as read their words. It’s set up so it’s just the individual candidates, one at a time, in an intimate setting. You don't see the questioners - it's as though the candidates are speaking directly to you.
That Joe Biden declined all requests to participate speaks volumes in itself, IMHO.
Missing from this list is anything on abortion, voting rights, gender issues, Iran... (I’m sure there are are other issues that could have been brought up, but those are ones that occur to me.) There is a lot of material here; it will take time if you want to hear what each candidate has to say in full on each question. The debates are coming up next week; the field will be split into two groups of 10 candidates over two nights.
The lineup for Night One: Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York; Representative Tim Ryan of Ohio; Julián Castro, the former housing secretary; Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey; Ms. Warren; Mr. O’Rourke; Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota; Representative Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii; Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington; and former Representative John Delaney of Maryland.
The lineup for Night Two: Marianne Williamson, a self-help author; former Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado; Andrew Yang, an entrepreneur; Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Ind.; Mr. Biden; Mr. Sanders; Senator Kamala Harris of California; Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York; Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado; and Representative Eric Swalwell of California.
The 18 Questions from the NY Times will give you a chance to get a much better feel for where the candidates stand on these issues than in the crossfire of the debates; the debates are going to be more of contest to see who can stand out from the rest while avoiding gaffes. With 10 candidates on stage each night, viewers are likely going to need a program to keep track of who is who.
Charles P. Pierce says Night Two of the Democratic Debate Is the Group of Death, to use a sports metaphor. Meanwhile, Pierce notes Trump is running as though it is still 2016.
El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago threw another one of his endless strings of public wankfests on Tuesday night in Orlando. (And is there anything more Of The Political Moment than this particular president* having one of his speech-like episodes in the Amway Center?) Ostensibly, this was to kickoff his attempt to remain president* for another nightmarish exercise in malfeasance, nonfeasance, and impeachable offenses. However, outside of feeding democratic institutions to the wolverines, this president* hasn't done anything except hold these Riefenstahlian clown shows every couple of months, so it can be fairly said that his 2016 campaign never stopped—especially when, as was the case Tuesday night, he mentions Hillary Rodham Clinton more often than anyone he's likely to be running against this time around.
The 18 Questions from the NY Times is going to be an invaluable resource going ahead. You may want to book mark it. While the candidates will have to respond to events going forward, this is in effect a snapshot of where they are coming from. Just seeing how much their answers do or do not change in the months going forward will give additional insight into their candidacies. Some of these will fall by the wayside rather quickly, but this gives us a view of how broad the territory is that they’re working.
There are those who complain that there is too much division in the country. It is the inevitable result of the gulf between the two parties. The contrast with the Republican side could not be greater: reality versus reality tv, governing versus demagoguery. While choosing the Democratic standard bearer is going to take some sorting, the Orlando Sentinel has concluded there is only one rational choice: Not Trump.