The democrats, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and the
republicans, Mike Huckabee and Ron Paul, joined in a forum on Saturday for
youths sponsored by MTV, The Associated Press and MySpace.
The four got to answer by satellite questions from the young
audience.
Obama got to say to the young audience that due to his
multicultural background he is able to "see through the eyes of other
people."
Also the candidates were asked about their opinions of one
another.
When asked what Obama stands for in the contest, Clinton
responded that the two of them "represent such a sea change in America,"
with one wanting to be the first female president and the other to become the
first black president, the Associated Press informs.
She said: “Whichever of us gets the nomination, we are
making history.”
Obama wanted to say that this doesn’t resume to the race or
the sex. If it were so, he would only show up at these events and would not
have to answer any questions.
Obama was in Minneapolis
and Clinton in Tucson,
Arizona, while John McCain and Mitt Romney,
top candidates for the GOP nomination, refused to participate.
The young voters were asked by Obama to judge him about his
stand against the war in Iraq
and on the fact that his father was a Kenyan and his mother was from Kansas.
He noted that he went to school in Indonesia.
He said: “If I convene a meeting of Muslim leaders to try to
bridge the divide between Islam and the West, I do so with the credibility of
someone who lived in a Muslim country for four years when I was a child. And
although I'm a Christian I have a sense of that culture."
He added: "I am a member of the same Christian church
where I've been for the last 20 years. I've been pledging allegiance to the
flag since I was 3 years old. These are the old smear tactics that we see in
every campaign," referring to the fact that some supporters wanted him to
run as a Muslim.
Clinton talked
about college and how can it be made more affordable. She presented some
proposals about how students may pay off debt with national service. Clinton
also said that colleges should sign contract with freshmen in order to ensure
that until they graduate there will be no tuition increase.
She said: "We are literally slamming the door of college
in the face of so many young people."
Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher was asked if he would
make any decision in the Oval Office that would be against with his religion.
He said: "There's not this glaring conflict. Faith
helps me to understand what is right."
He added: "I always get asked the God questions,"
noticing that is frustrating that people don’t know about his work as Arkansas
governor.
Paul was asked what it should be done about the situation in
Sudan’s Darfur
region to ease the situation.
He said: "I don't believe in using force in that
manner. Under the Constitution, we're not allowed to do that.”
Paul said that he would agree interim aid.
The forum "Closing Arguments: A Presidential Super
Dialogue," was transmitted live on MTV and on 1,800 Websites and radio
stations.