I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Want evidence of why the GOP has trouble appealing to younger and more secular voters? Part of the reason is that our candidates feel like they have to give answers like this one:
GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?
Marco Rubio: I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.
Yes, Rubio probably needs to answer that way to get through the Iowa caucuses, and that's the problem. I wish the people that determine our presidential (and Senate) nominees would be perfectly happy for him to have answered simply, "A few billion years."
(I'm giving Rubio the benefit of the doubt in assuming he doesn't think the world is 6,000 years old. He does sit on the Science and Space subcommittee, after all.)
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Comments:
Nov '10
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
I like his answer, and I think it's fair.
Jul '12
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Really, why is he being asked the question?
Aug '10
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Proper Response: "Is that a serious question?"
And if they say yes, it is: "Really? Really?! Wow. REALLY?!?!"
Dec '11
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Go full john mccain "That is the stupidest question anybody has ever asked me."
Apr '12
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Misthiocracy: Proper Response: "Is that a serious question?"
And if they say yes, it is: "Really? Really?! Wow. REALLY?!?!" · 3 minutes ago
Of course it's not serious. If it were, they would ask someone besides Republicans, which they never do. (Your average Democrat would blubber just as much as Rubio did, by the way.) One thing Rubio's answer gets right: The answer to that question has no bearing on the economy. Answers to other, serious science questions might have some slight effect on the economy -- e.g., "Should the government fund embryonic stem cell research?" But the earth-age question, as litigators are fond of saying, is "overly broad, unduly burdensome, and not calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence."
Edited on November 19, 2012 at 11:30pmAug '10
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
How about this answer?
"Plus or minus how many billions of years?"
Followed up by:
"Are you gonna ask me to guess your weight next?"
Nov '12
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Yes, either that or answer it directly and truthfully. I'd give the same response to the question about the rap songs.
Aug '10
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Or even: "If you have the answer there on your sheet, I think that means you're cheating."
Dec '10
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
It's a dog whistle question. Is Rubio a creationist? A right wing religious extremist? A Tea Party nut job? That's all.
One of the (very few) things I like about Newt Gingrich is that he rarely fails to challenge the premise of idiotic or leading questions. I think he'd have identified the intent of this one, and nailed the response, which is that his opinion on this is quite irrelevant to the difficulties that the country finds itself in today. And I hope he'd have asked the interviewer what HIS (or HER) opinion was . . .
Mar '11
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
It's obvious why he's being asked the question: to point out how many "maroons" inhabit the right end of the spectrum. No matter what answer he gives, someone can use it to point out how many "stupid" Republicans there are.
But I disagree with everyone saying this is a horrible question. Sure, it's irrelevant from a policy perspective. But we elect politicians as much for their decision-making abilities as their actual stances on individual issues.
Every executive will have to solve problems which are outside of his field of expertise. It can be useful to know what sources a (potential) officeholder seeks out and values when faced with an unknowable situation.
Of course, all my reasoning would be more salient if the whole interview wasn't just trying to bait him into derailing his own train.
Mar '11
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Matt Smith:
(I'm giving Rubio the benefit of the doubt in assuming he doesn't think the world is 6000 years old. He does sit on the Science and Space sub-committee, after all.) ·
Then again, Todd Akin was on the House Science and Technology Committee.
Aug '10
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
How about: "Well if you don't already know I'm certainly not going to tell you. Do your own damned research!"
Nov '12
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Olive, slightly off-topic, but I joined this group only very recently, and I note that you had asked in early August if there were any ex-lizards. Belatedly, I would like to declare that I am one, and I'm not surprised to see some migration from LGF to this site.
I may as well say, however, I'm a thoroughgoing neo-Darwinist but I stopped posting at LGF out of boredom. I just didn't find that I was learning all that much from the other contributors, unlike Ricochet.
The fun thing about LGF was when I wrote a statistical "model" to predict the date and time at which Charles would open up the door for admission, and I was more or less right. Of course, joining Ricochet was just as much fun, but in a different way!
May '11
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Mendel
Matt Smith:
(I'm giving Rubio the benefit of the doubt in assuming he doesn't think the world is 6000 years old. He does sit on the Science and Space sub-committee, after all.) ·
Then again, Todd Akin was on the House Science and Technology Committee. · 13 minutes ago
Touché.
Mar '11
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
She: It's a dog whistle question. Is Rubio a creationist? A right wing religious extremist? A Tea Party nut job? That's all.
One of the (very few) things I like about Newt Gingrich is that he rarely fails to challenge the premise of idiotic or leading questions. I think he'd have identified the intent of this one, and nailed the response, which is that his opinion on this is quite irrelevant to the difficulties that the country finds itself in today. And I hope he'd have asked the interviewer what HIS (or HER) opinion was . . . · 13 minutes ago
We need to convince Newt that for the good of the party and the preservation of Western Civilization*, he needs to open up a boot camp to teach Republican candidates how to deal with the media.
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* It never hurts to go big-picture with Newt.
Apr '12
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
Mendel
[...]
But I disagree with everyone saying this is a horrible question. Sure, it's irrelevant from a policy perspective. But we elect politicians as much for their decision-making abilities as their actual stances on individual issues.
Every executive will have to solve problems which are outside of his field of expertise. It can be useful to know what sources a (potential) officeholder seeks out and values when faced with an unknowable situation.
[...]
I agree with you on principle. In a perfect world, the party of common sense would be the party of across-the-board, no exceptions common sense. But this world isn't perfect, and we don't yet have a party that uses common sense all the time in every situation. The best we can do for now is to have common sense where it matters from a public policy perspective.
Apr '11
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
What does it matter if he did? The point is and the point that Rubio made very well is that that question is not really all that important when it comes down to it. Whether you believe in a 7 day creation or the latest evolutionary theories has almost no impact on how you would govern the country.
Jul '11
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
I think the only valid answer is; "I am not sure, I wasn't there."
Aug '10
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
The truth about the creation of our world has very little impact on the current political reality. Why create obstacles (litmus tests) in the face of some pretty big questions about what the voters care about and how many voters were misled at the polls, had their votes changed, or were disenfranchised by the efforts of Acorn-type organizations and unions that worked very hard to steal yet another election.
May '12
Re: I Wish Our Candidates Didn't Feel Like They Had to Give Answers Like This
If you ask a democrat that question they will answer billions of years because the earth was created out of nothing from a big bang and there is no God. The democrat base will applaud and turn out the vote.
If a republican believes the world is several thousand years old they should say so proudly. They will be ridiculed in the press (they will be ridiculed no matter what), but I bet their base will be more inclined to rally to their cause because they took a firm, core position, and stood For something, even if it is something small.