10 Tough Questions For 10 Top Candidates

Katie Couric Asks Presidential Candidates Questions Of Character -- And Gets Surprising Answers

(CBS)  Katie Couric had some key questions for the presidential candidates aimed at showing their core values and who they really are.

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In just 336 days, chances are you will elect one of the top 10 candidates in the Primary Election as president, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric reports.

On the stump, people are saying: “Our president has to be a person of integrity,” “Morals. Strong morals,” “Someone who knows what they’re talking about.”

From what voters have told CBS News in this next election, there are no guarantees.

“It's really ridiculous to assume that because someone is your same complexion, they will agree with you on major issues,” an African-American woman said.

An informal poll indicates that come November, policy positions may not rule the day.

“Character is everything,” one voter said.

Voters say they will be pulling that proverbial lever for the candidate who shares their core values.

“I think integrity's the most thing, which gets down to telling people the truth,” said Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley.

So Couric sat down with ten presidential candidates, one at a time, and posed 10 questions ranging from: “If you were elected president, what one book - besides the Bible - you would bring with you to the White House?” to one on the subject of fidelity.

“Many people say they don't feel comfortable supporting someone who's not remained faithful to their spouse,” Couric asked.

“The only thing I can say to people is, I'm not perfect,” former New York major Rudy Giuliani responded.

On fear, Couric asked: “Besides your family, what are you most afraid of losing?”

In some cases, the answers were divided along party lines.

“Who is the single most impressive person you've ever met?” Couric asked.

Several candidates answered “Nelson Mandela.” Others answered “Ronald Regan.”

“My father,” said former Sen. John Edwards.

“I guess I’d say my dad,” said Fred Thompson.

Some of the answers were surprising. Couric told Giuliani after he answered one question: “Would you believe Hillary said the same thing?”

Some, not so revealing. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said: “I probably shouldn't tell that story.”

There were moments of humor, such as when Couric asked Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., when was the last time he lost his temper.

“Probably about 10 minutes ago,” he said, laughing.

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Watch a preview video about the series
The candidates tell who was their most influential person.

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And there were moments of humility. When asked what’s the worst piece of advice he’d ever given, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said: “Someone would probably say ‘vote for me.’”

And on more than one occasion, even these seasoned politicians were stumped.

“I'm gonna have to think about this one. Am I allowed to think about these for a second?” Obama asked.

But in every exchange, there were answers that will either reinforce or redefine your opinion of a potential president.

“The single most important thing they're looking for is resilience,” said Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. “Someone who can take a hit, get back up, and move on.”

Thompson said: “I like to say, this ain't my first rodeo. I've been around politics for a while.”

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said: “I don't surround myself with yes-men. I surround myself with people that tell me if I've done something wrong.”

"That's the great threat," McCain said. "That's the greatest force of evil that we have faced and it's a long hard struggle."

"And if we have a strong president at the helm, we shouldn't ever be afraid to talk to our adversaries," Obama said. "And tell them what we think and where we stand."

And Romney said: “You're fine to go down, if you go down based on the things that you believe. And it's like okay if people reject what I really believe and what I really did, and they don't want that, that's fine.”

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[lundertown]

I am appalled that Obama is blaming his early drug/alcohol use on the fact that he was raised by a single mother. As a single mom, I am so offended. And what is even as much baffling to me is that Oprah is endorsing a candidate that obviously cannot take responsibility for his own actions....instead of blaming others for what he does. This might be another embarrassment for Oprah....remember her endorsement of James Frey''s book "A Million Little Pieces"?

[sschrader37]

Will any of the candidates really do anything about guns in this country or will they all just say, "my heart goes out to the loved ones for their loss."

[sschrader37]

Please dare any of the candidates to stand on stage live with five of the loved ones (relatives) who lost someone in the senseless killings in Omaha or Virginia Tech and have them explain and defend their stance on guns.

[neptunebob-2009]

Katie, why not Dennis Kucinich? I think his answers are very informative and the more people hear his positions, the more electable he becomes. I think you would enjoy and interview with Dennis Kucinich!

[gregunit1]

Ms. Couric, if you are going to do a segment on what Presidential candidates think, then you should include all the candidates running for President. Apparently, you set some sort of arbitrary standard. The absence of Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich is glaring. Your job is to inform, not choose who to inform us on. You should apologize to the candidates that you did not include and re-run a segment with their responses to your questions. Your journalistic integrity is on the line.

[smrp]

Yes why you not including Dr Ron Paul? he is a fine man with many good ideas and principals. I find this to be an outrage he is not included.Least he upholds and supports the US Constitution unlike the others with the exception of Kunich who is another to be excluded. You call your self a fair news agency. I would call you an unfair news agency, you have lost all credibility with many.

Thank you have a nice day!!!

[noway2_1]

Its absolutely despicable that you left out Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich! Your "choice" shows the absolute depths to which the media has sunk to! Everyone I have spoken to says that they would expect this because Ron Paul does not support the Israeli Lobby and the owners of CBS do.

Your actions remind me of a comment made by the professor in an introduction to communications class I took in college. He said that the first thing that a totalitarian government does when they assume power is take control of the media. Welcome to the Police States of America!

[why_not_nar]

Katie, (sorry, typos corrected)
Congrats. On this one you hit a home run. I got more out of this than watching any four debates. And yes, i do have a feeling about who is honest, who is precanned, and who is lying. The series has tentatively changed my vote. You do need to define a set of rules in terms of inclusion. Great job. RE:Les''''s comment that people don''t run home to watch the evening news. I agree. However, there is this new invention called the computer, and today we live in a digital age. Many of us record what we want on our PCs or on our TIVO''s. In doing so, you can watch the evening news in 18-20 minutes, commercial free.

What Les if forgetting, is that the three networks, CNN and perhaps FOX have a global infrastructure, and pool of journalistic talent unmatched in television.

He needs to recheck his demographic, I think that the people who want high quality globes news, and they tend to be people with high disposable incomes, or people who are willing to pay for the news, regardless of whether they are 30,40, 50, or 60+. Caring about events in the world is a lifetime habit.

Just be clear on what high quality news is. High quality news is what came from IRAQ, and what you are doing this. It has nothing to do with your opinions on football, marital discord, or anything else.

Now IF YOU FOUND A WAY TO MAKE THE CONTACT OF THE NEWS MORE INTERESTING, and gave the news to people how, when and where they wanted it, YOU WOULD NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT RATIngs.

[why_not_nar]

Katie,
Congrats. On this one you hit a home run. I got more out of this than watching four debates. And yes, i do have a feeling about who is honest, who is precanned, and who is lying. The series has tentatively changed my vote. You do need to set of rules in terms of inclusion.

Great job. RE:Les''s comment that people don''t run home to watch the evening news. I agree. However, there is this new invention the computer, and today we live in a digital age. And many of us record what we want of those digital images on our PCs or on our TIVO''s. Now it only takes 18-20 minutes to watch the evening news.

What Les if forgetting, is that these three networks, CNN and perhaps FOX have a glogal infrastruture, and pool of journalist talen unmatched in television.

He needs to recheck his demographic, I think that the people who what are high quality broadcast are the folks who in many cases have the highest disposable income, whether they today are 30,40, 50, or 60+.

However we need to define high quality. High quality is what you did in IRAQ, and what you are doing with the candidates. It has nothing to do with you opinions on football, marital discord, or anything else.

Now IF YOU FOUND A WAY TO MAKE THE CONTACT OF THE NEWS MORE INTERESTING, AND MORE ACCESSABLE, I BELIEVE THAT YOU WOULD NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT RATINGS.

[varigear]

Shame on CBS. You fail at being a news organization with integrity. Did Katie willingly participate in this blatant favoritism or did she argue with you for a while before giving in?

The current sad state in America is directly related to the last election. How many good candidates have you ignored in the past, and with what ramifications? You can''t claim innocence and disgust with the state of the country - it''s partially your fault.

Going to make the same mistakes again? Because you have already started.

[merlgrey]

California Straw Poll Cancelled - Too Many Ron Paul Supporters "I paid my $33 for the dinner and vote. A $5 option was also offered to vote after the festivities. We patiently listened to the guest speaker support Fred Thompson and talk on the issues of water and budget problems in California. They then held a raffle, while all the "cheap" voters waited in the lobby. When they finally let them in, the room was flooded with Ron Paul supporters and the organizer notified us the poll was cancelled. I started the video after the initial announcement and pandemonium broke out. The sudden cancellation and an attempt to change the rules, understandably, upset quite a few people."

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9c2_1196901628

[tatonka322]

Four words why Ron Paul is not included in this phony news segment, those four words....Council on Foreign Relations!
Katie we all know that you and everyone of the so-called "top candidates" are all members of the CFR and we all know that you push these puppets out there for us to fall over. But this year is different! We see through the BS now and we have chosen our own "top candidate" Dr. Ron Paul!
Ron Paul is a threat to your little establishment isn''t he?
The more you ignore him the louder we''ll yell, and mark my words your little house of cards is coming down!

[mslskl]

Well, not bad questions and comments. But i too think it should be inclusive with all candidates.
Katie, ask a couple hard questions like:
What is your position on the rising cost of fuel and what will you DO about it? As a follow to that, ask why the government doesn''t realize that oil is now a necessity of life? As such, how can they allow private enterprise to control and hurt so many Americans? Water, electricity, natural gas are all regulated industries, please tell me why gasoline does not have some level of regulation to prevent spikes in pricing that can hurt an economy and people''s lives.
Second, please ask Hillary, as a follow up to the "mistake" question, why she didn''t feel that her husband''s failure to act as a half way decent role model/citizen and including affairs did not result in divorce?

[mslskl]

Well, not bad questions and comments. But i too think it should be inclusive with all candidates.
Katie, ask a couple hard questions like:
What is your position on the rising cost of fuel and what will you DO about it? As a follow to that, ask why the government doesn''t realize that oil is now a necessity of life? As such, how can they allow private enterprise to control and hurt so many Americans? Water, electricity, natural gas are all regulated industries, please tell me why gasoline does not have some level of regulation to prevent spikes in pricing that can hurt an economy and people''s lives.
Second, please ask Hillary, as a follow up to the "mistake" question, why she didn''t feel that her husband''s failure to act as a half way decent role model/citizen and including affairs did not result in divorce?

[swizlstx]

"Top candidates"? with RON PAUL conspicuously missing of course. shame on you CBS! Not very fair or balanced....ooops wrong channel. Katie doesn''t get ratings anyway so no need to worry that there''ll be a lack of exposure for Dr.Paul.

[mslskl]

Well, not bad questions and comments. But i too think it should be inclusive with all candidates.
Katie, ask a couple hard questions like:
What is your position on the rising cost of fuel and what will you DO about it? As a follow to that, ask why the government doesn''t realize that oil is now a necessity of life? As such, how can they allow private enterprise to control and hurt so many Americans? Water, electricity, natural gas are all regulated industries, please tell me why gasoline does not have some level of regulation to prevent spikes in pricing that can hurt an economy and people''s lives.
Second, please ask Hillary, as a follow up to the "mistake" question, why she didn''t feel that her husband''s failure to act as a half way decent role model/citizen and including affairs did not result in divorce?

[arpkell]

Why isn''t Ron Paul getting any air time on these issues? Could it be that he is the only one that believes it bringing home not just our men in Iraq but those in most other foreign outposts? Or perhaps you are uncomfortabl talking with someone that wants to bring us back to the true meanings of our constitution.

[mslskl]

Well, not bad questions and comments. But i too think it should be inclusive with all candidates.
Katie, ask a couple hard questions like:
What is your position on the rising cost of fuel and what will you DO about it? As a follow to that, ask why the government doesn''t realize that oil is now a necessity of life? As such, how can they allow private enterprise to control and hurt so many Americans? Water, electricity, natural gas are all regulated industries, please tell me why gasoline does not have some level of regulation to prevent spikes in pricing that can hurt an economy and people''s lives.
Second, please ask Hillary, as a follow up to the "mistake" question, why she didn''t feel that her husband''s failure to act as a half way decent role model/citizen and including affairs did not result in divorce?

[rowdytexan2]

I don''t hold with exclusionary thinking either...if you interview the candidates, you interview them all!

How can you make a conscious choice when this kind of manipulative clap trap goes on among our most noble media magouls. This makes me seriuously doubt your ability and credibility! I''ll make sure I read them all! I''ll not ever purchase anything from this website''s sponsors either and let them get advertising credit. This is BULL!

Fie on the whole bunch of ya!

[poliincorect]

Why wasn''t Ron Paul on to be asked for his biggest mistake? Katie, you need to meet with him tonight and record his answer, play his answer and include him in tomorrow night''s new question and answer too. Are you taking the CNN/You Tube route and depriving the American people from hearing from the person we want to hear from, Ron Paul? And he wants to get out of Iraq just like the TV liberals do. Also, Ron Paul is higher in the polls than Fred Thompson so what gives?
Why is Thompson on and Paul not?