Dec. 3, 2007

CBS News To Debut Series On The Candidates

Katie Couric Talks One-On-One With Each Leading Candidate To Pose 10 Questions That Reveal Some Unexpected Answers

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    A preview of "Primary Questions: Character, Leadership and the Candidates." Katie Couric one on one with presidential candidates in a special series starting this week on the CBS Evening News.

  • Video Primary Questions

    "Primary Questions" is the CBS Evening News special series in which Katie Couric will ask ten top presidential candidates the same ten questions.

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  • Video Library Primary Questions

    Katie Couric asks the top presidential candidates 10 questions about what makes them tick.

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(CBS)  This week the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric will begin a new political series that poses the same 10 questions to each of the leading candidates in a series of one-on-one, in-depth interviews.

A preview for the "Primary Questions: Character, Leadership & the Candidates," will be on Tuesday, Dec. 4, on the CBS Evening News With Katie Couric. The series begins on Wednesday, Dec. 5.

Couric speaks to Sen. Barack Obama, D- Ill., Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., former Sen. John Edwards, D- N.C., Gov. Bill Richardson, D-N.M., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, R-N.Y., former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., and former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

In addition to policy and issue questions, the candidates are asked questions intended to give some insight into their character-something polls have frequently shown as being more important to voters than agreeing with the candidate on issues.

Some questions include:

  • When was the last time you lost your temper - and what came of it?

  • What's the biggest mistake you've ever made - how did you recognize it-and what did you do to change course?

  • What's the worst piece of advice you've ever given another person?

  • Harry Truman said, "A man not honorable in his marital relations is not usually honorable in any other" and many people say they don't feel comfortable supporting someone who has not remained faithful to his or her spouse-can you understand their position?

    Click here to read the answer to the fist question: What is the biggest mistake you've ever made?"

    Click here to see a video library of the candidate's answers to all questions so far.

    Click here to watch a preview of some of the answers to the questions.

    Click here to watch a video sneak peek of the series.

    © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    Candidate Profiles & RSS Feeds


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    Add a Comment See all 440 Comments
    by sabucher December 8, 2007 2:03 PM EST
    The people demand Kucinich and Ron Paul!
    Reply to this comment
    by greenstj December 7, 2007 9:14 PM EST
    Where are the rest of the candidates? Is Ron Paul not running for the Presidency? No wonder Ron Paul is not considered a "Leading Candidate" by main stream media, no one will interview him. When he is allowed to speak ...say at a debate, everyone mocks him and laughs at him before he gets a chance to speak. Or, my favorite is when the interviewer begins their question with "Now we all now you are not going to win,"...

    What a surprise, the corporations that own CBS don''t want someone in office they can''t buy.

    CBS you are a disgrace.
    Reply to this comment
    by xenya_x December 7, 2007 7:56 PM EST
    By excluding Kucinich and Paul from this debate, you are not serving the interests of the American people. Not only is this shameful act all over the internet, it is also being told to the older generation who do not log onto the internet. Your station has sunk to a new low. These "debates" are a joke.
    Reply to this comment
    by sharilynkay December 7, 2007 7:48 PM EST
    This is truly pathetic as it is so obvious that MSM/CBS is trying to ignore the only Pro America/We The People candidate out there ... RON PAUL! I will be boycotting CBS if you don''t get your act together. I am sure you are aware that he has more on the ground supporters at all the polls, on the streets, you tube videos, etc than ANY OTHER CANDIDATE CURRENTLY RUNNING, BAR NONE!! So your exclusion of him is very very obvious.
    Reply to this comment
    by xgringo December 7, 2007 7:26 PM EST
    Where is Ron Paul? I don''t understand why he can not get media attention!
    Reply to this comment
    by ltbjorgaard December 7, 2007 7:24 PM EST
    This is unacceptable behavior. The exclusion of Ron Paul is a travesty and frankly un-American.

    The massive support for Ron Paul is not unknown to you. Your exclusion of him is an obvious attempt to suppress his views and to promote the pro-corporate views of the media selected candidates.

    Air time given to candidates should be fair and balanced. Let Americans have the freedom to hear all the candidates and the FREEDOM to make their choice unaffected by your bias.
    Reply to this comment
    by shiggityx2-2009 December 7, 2007 3:12 PM EST
    Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul are the only candidates worth listening to. CBS, you have sunk to a new low.
    Reply to this comment
    by csliberty December 7, 2007 2:58 PM EST
    When Ron Paul raises more money than any other Republican in the 3rd quarter he deserves the air time. When he has won more Republican straw polls across America than any other Republican he deserves air time. When he had won debate polls on ABC, FOX, MSNBC, C-SPAN, CNN and others he deserves air time. When he''s the most mentioned person in blogs for the last 6 months according to Technorati, he has earned his spot to be interview. In fact, he''s a front runner ahead of Tancredo, McCain, Hunter, and Huckabee in all of these areas. Shame on CBS.
    Reply to this comment
    by concerned220 December 7, 2007 1:55 PM EST
    I''ve lost faith in CBS and the rest of mainstream media. You''ve shown your lack of journalistic integrity by excluding Ron Paul.
    Reply to this comment
    by concerned220 December 7, 2007 1:54 PM EST
    McCain but no RON PAUL? What an absolute disgrace!
    Reply to this comment
    by concerned220 December 7, 2007 1:53 PM EST
    The "Ron Paul Revolution" is real. Stop ignoring it. Stop marginalizing it. Do your job and report on the real issues.
    Reply to this comment
    by rog_rabbit December 7, 2007 1:10 PM EST
    How pathetic both CBS and Katie truly are. To call this anything resembling journalism, or even viable commentary, is an insult. 45 pages worth of comments attest to that, but, being the propagandists you obviously are, you will pretend that your pre-selection of candidates is "objective". When the voice of the huge mass of supporters that Ron Paul enjoys is truly heard, I hope you know where to find KGB headquarters (PS. its no longer in Moscow; even the Russians are less "soviet socialist" than you clowns.)
    Reply to this comment
    by rog_rabbit December 7, 2007 1:09 PM EST
    How pathetic both CBS and Katie truly are. To call this anything resembling journalism, or even viable commentary, is an insult. 45 pages worth of comments attest to that, but, being the propagandists you obviously are, you will pretend that your pre-selection of candidates is "objective". When the voice of the huge mass of supporters that Ron Paul enjoys is truly heard, I hope you know where to find KGB headquarters (PS. its no longer in Moscow; even the Russians are less "soviet socialist" than you clowns.)
    Reply to this comment
    by squid1985 December 7, 2007 9:52 AM EST
    How many corporations do have to have in your pocket to get on the Television? When did the US media get so scewed the candidate with the most individual contributions is not considered a "real" candidate. Ron Paul is the only "real" candidate. The Ron Paul campaign, mostly run by individual supporters, has woken up the public to the serious issues that face this country. Why is everyone afraid of letting him talk? If he isn''t a "real" candidate then why is he raising so much money? Why are so many people taking time out of there lives to volunteer for his campaign? Why are so many people, that have never been involved in politics, involved in Ron Paul''s campaign? Give the man a chance and he will fix our country.
    Reply to this comment
    by frisketdog December 7, 2007 3:51 AM EST
    I''ve lost faith in CBS and the rest of mainstream media. You''ve shown your lack of journalistic integrity by excluding Ron Paul.
    Reply to this comment
    by nursebetsy December 7, 2007 3:08 AM EST
    It seems that CBS needs a shot in the arm
    and some repair in their paperwork...Let me
    try...Okey, there now, maybe they will do a
    story on ALL the candidates instead of making
    the DECISIONS FOR US?!!!

    Oh, but then again they must be part of the
    "elite" club. Too bad everybody doesn''t just
    BOYCOTT their news channel or perhaps ALL
    their programming and boycott the advertisers
    as well...

    Doesn''t matter WHO I wish to vote for...I don''t
    need CBS making my choice. I thought this was
    still the United States...or am I just dreaming???

    Pass the penicillin please...
    Reply to this comment
    by stewbumer December 7, 2007 2:07 AM EST
    You''re not even going to interview the real Republican frontrunner.
    i.e. The guy that wins every post debate poll, the guy that''s rasining more money than anyone. The guy that''s won more straw polls than anyone else.
    Oh, I forgot, you''re still trying to pretend Ron Paul isn''t a first tier candidate.
    It''s so sad that the so-called "main-stream" media continues to make itself more irrelevant with each passing day.
    And you wonder where all your readers have gone.

    Reply to this comment
    by hedge-fund December 7, 2007 1:25 AM EST
    It''s a shame, that you are not covering Ron Paul or Kucinich. Here are 2 of the most respectable candidates out there that actually strike a chord with the general public and you ignore them. Are you scared of what they stand for?

    20 years ago you could get away with this, but now with the internet most people get their news from a variety of sources. It''s just a matter of time when large media houses like yourselves will become obsolete the more you push biased views.

    We just want an unbiased view, is that too much to ask for?
    Reply to this comment
    by hedge-fund December 7, 2007 1:23 AM EST
    It''s a shame, that you are not covering Ron Paul or Kucinich. Here are 2 of the most respectable candidates out there that actually strike a chord with the general public and you ignore them. Are you scared of what they stand for?

    20 years ago you could get away with this, but now with the internet most people get their news from a variety of sources. It''s just a matter of time when large media houses like yourselves will become obsolete the more you push biased views.

    We just want an unbiased view, is that too much to ask for?
    Reply to this comment
    by davissean December 7, 2007 1:04 AM EST
    I have been a viewer of 60 Minutes nearly all my life. I am ashamed that CBS would cut out Ron Paul from their candidate series. I have lost a lot of respect for this network today.
    Reply to this comment
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