So this is a little late. Mike Huckabee came to Cornell last Tuesday and I went to see him speak.
I discovered in the Q & A session that Cornell students apparently ask only two types of questions:
1) A pointless or completely ignorant request. One person asked Huckabee for a high-five, and another asked if Huckabee (as a pastor) would marry him and his fiancee. Seriously? Do you REALLY expect a former presidential candidate and governor to marry some kid from a lecture? Another person felt the need to tell Mr. Huckabee that his 80-year-old grandmother accidentally voted for him, despite being a democrat, because she messed up the ballot. Congratulations, you win the That’s-Not-A-Question Award.
2) Rambling, poorly worded questions that don’t go anywhere. One girl asked a question that took several minutes just to pose to Mr. Huckabee. She wanted him to relate his stance on personal responsibility, religion in public, and conservative right to life to abortion and the war in Iraq. Awesome! Most of the questions fell into this category, with a subset of people who asked obviously liberal-biased questions then got pissed with the answers. One guy asked Huckabee how he felt about gay marriage and acted appalled and surprised when the former governor said that he didn’t support it.
After 45 minutes of agonizingly bad Q & A I was turned away along with about 20 other students who had been waiting in line for nearly an hour. Sadly, my question about Mr. Huckabee’s opinion on the movement for Sharia law in Britain was not asked because people felt the need to ask for favors and tell self-aggrandizing stories.
I was embarrassed by the bad questions my peers asked to Stephen Colbert last fall (one guy waited 30 minutes in line to plug his fraternity party that evening. I’m not kidding), but I hoped Huckabee would not be a repeat. Unfortunately, Cornell students proved once again that Ivy League students don’t think before they open their mouths.
I must admit that Mike Huckabee answered each question thoughtfully and with a quality answer. I didn’t agree with most of his policy positions but he spoke with humor, poise, and respect in the face of a liberal crowd asking “gotcha” questions.
Tags: bad questions, Cornell, gotcha questions, Huckabee, Huckabee at Cornell, Q & A
April 20, 2008 at 9:41 pm
completely agree…i have NEVER seen a good question and answer section. Ever.
April 20, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Now you might consider finishing your study of the Huckster with these;
Mike “The Huckster” Huckabee
http://mikeyhuckabee.blogspot.com/
Mike Huckabee’s Skeleton Closet
http://www.realchange.org/huckabee.htm
April 21, 2008 at 10:29 am
How embarrassing for Cornell. One would expect more thought provoking and insightful questions. Especially from an ivy league institution. Sheesh.
April 21, 2008 at 2:14 pm
I think that what is not surprising is that college students act like our society expects them to act…like delayed adolescents. It is a sign og Mr Huckabee’s character that he takes the time to thoughtfully answer questions, believing the best in people who may not seem to deserve it. I think he believes people are valuable whether they agree with him or not. I am saddened that our culture has such low expectations of our young people.
May 6, 2008 at 12:50 am
Many of these students will come around to the Republican way of thinking as soon as they start working and see how much of their paychecks the democrats will take. They will become believers of the Fair Tax real quick and they will remember Mike Huckabee. Mike will be the 45th president of the US. We will be ready for him this time and make sure he does not get away. My hope is that Senator McCain does not unerestimate the “value of Mike Huckabee’s stock” in winning the election for the Republicans. A McCain/Huckabee ticket is the only chance we have of winning the White House in November.
May 6, 2008 at 1:15 am
See my post on the math of the FAIR Tax here, and how it is a very problematic plan for over 80% of Americans: http://jacksonsthoughts.wordpress.com/2008/01/09/behind-huckabee’s-un-”fair”-tax/