page_title: 2008 Republican Party presidential debates and forums
section_title: November 28, 2007 - St. Petersburg, Florida
hierarchical_section_title: 2008 Republican Party presidential debates and forums / The candidate debates / November 28, 2007 - St. Petersburg, Florida
caption_attribution_description: the CNN-Youtube Republican DebateFred checks out the stage on the afternoon before the debate
context_page_description: The 2008 Republican Presidential Debates were political debates before the 2008 Republican Primaries. The first was May 3, 2007, at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. Other debates have taken place in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Florida. They were generally broadcast by television networks.
  The debates can have a substantial effect on the primaries and are important chances for the public to compare the candidates side-by-side.
context_section_description: This debate is known as the "YouTube" debate.  CNN planned it with a simulcast on CNN en Español (in the Spanish language). Internet services YouTube and Google also participated, allowing them to stream the event live and have clips for future use. Video questions had to be submitted by November 25 to YouTube . According to Nielsen Media Research, the debate drew a record Cable TV audience for a presidential primary debate, an estimated 4.4 million viewers.
  The debate format permitted audience applause and boos—something that had been uncommon in the debates.
  Several candidates cited scheduling conflicts with the original date, September 17, 2007, so it was rescheduled. The invited candidates are Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, and Fred Thompson.  Alan Keyes was not invited.  All invited candidates accepted, and all appeared.
  Thirty-three questions were chosen for the debate, with Anderson Cooper - the moderator - determining which candidates would respond to each question. Giuliani spoke 20 times, for a total of 16:38.  Mitt Romney spoke 19 times, for a total of 13 minutes and 18 seconds.  Fred Thompson and John McCain each spoke 12 times, for 12:16 & 11:00, respectively.  Mike Huckabee spoke 11 times, for a total of 10:00.  Paul spoke 9 times, for a total of 7:43.  Hunter spoke 7 times, for a total of 5:06, and Tancredo spoke 7 times, for a total of 3:49. Mike Huckabee was not given a question to answer until minute 26, while Ron Paul's first question was given after the first half-hour.
  CNN's on-line viewer poll shows Ron Paul the winner of the debate with 49% of the vote. Viewers found Rudy Giuliani to have the most disappointing performance, with 27% of the vote.
  Forty-four percent of Florida Republicans who said they were undecided surveyed by InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research judged that Mike Huckabee won this debate, whereas 18% thought Rudy Giuliani won, 13% felt that Mitt Romney won, and 10% picked John McCain.  No other participant was selected as the debate's winner by more than 5% of those surveyed.  The poll's margin of error was +/- 6%. An InsiderAdvantage/Majority Opinion Research survey of over 1,035 decided & undecided Iowa Republicans taken during the last 20 minutes of the debate found that 32% thought Huckabee won the debate, while 16% judged that Romney won, 12% felt that Giuliani won, and 10% picked John McCain.  In this poll, Fred Thompson was chosen by 7% and Ron Paul was chosen by 6% as the debate's winner.  No other participant was selected as the debate's winner by more than 2% of those surveyed.
  John McCain and Ron Paul had a notable exchange over the Iraq War and the Vietnam War. McCain stated that troops wanted the US government to "let them win." Ron Paul replied "The real question you have to ask is why do I get the most money from active duty officers and military personnel?"
   McCain also called Paul an isolationist, saying "We allowed Hitler to come to power with that kind of isolationism." Paul replied that McCain was confusing isolationism with non-intervention, "I want to trade with people, talk with people, travel, but I don't want to send troops overseas using force to tell them how to live."
  During breaks, ads created by each campaign were aired. Fred Thompson's ad attacked Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, to which they were allowed to respond.
  CNN was criticized for not revealing during the debate that Keith Kerr, an openly gay military general who had submitted a question and spoke during the debate, was on a campaign advisory organization supporting Hillary Clinton.  CNN cut the question and candidate response in the subsequent airing of the debate. Los Angeles Times editorial writer Tim Rutten criticized CNN's handling of the debate, calling the network "corrupt" and accusing it of focusing the debate on immigration to benefit Lou Dobbs' ratings.
  Part 1 and Part 2 of the transcript at CNN.
  Entire Debate Video
  Video with Closed Caption
caption: Debate stage
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