Interesting. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel spills the beans. How CNN attempted to embarrass the Republican candidates by setting them up to be asked emotional questions by an aggrieved father. It was thwarted because said aggrieved father turned out to be an honorable man who refused to misrepresent himself.
Wisconsin has an open primary. I don’t think there should be open primaries as it allows people who do not support a party to choose its candidate for it. That makes no sense whatsoever. Primary elections are a fairly recent phenomenon. In the past all candidates for the general election were selected by party conventions. A handful of states, such as Montana and North Dakota, still does it that way. This case also demonstrates how America lacks the will to win a war, against ISIS or anybody else. Certainly we lack the money to fund any kind of realistic war effort. America is the “brokest” nation in history. We are approaching 20 Trillion Dollars in debt and climbing. How will that have a good ending?
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John Witmer was denied because he refused to commit to voting for one of the Republican candidates.
Updated: Yesterday 11:20 p.m. 113
The father of the first female National Guard member killed in combat was not allowed to ask questions at Tuesday's CNN "town hall meeting" in Milwaukee because he refused to commit to voting for one of the Republican candidates.
John Witmer was asked by CNN to submit three questions for Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich at the event at Milwaukee's Riverside Theater.
Witmer said CNN producer Julie Zann told him the questions — about decisions to go to war, the role of women in the military and whether the candidates would institute a draft — were excellent and she would stay in touch.
But on Monday, John Witmer said, Zann told him the rules for the event required anyone asking a question to commit to voting for one of the Republican candidates in next week's primary in Wisconsin.
Witmer was flabbergasted.
"To me, it's a Republican event meant to showcase Republican candidates, and I can understand them wanting to control the message, but it seems shortsighted," said Witmer, who said he plans to vote in Wisconsin's primary. "If they really want to field a viable candidate, they have to reach beyond party lines and talk to people like myself who is independent."
The anniversary of Michelle Witmer's death is next week. She was deployed to Iraq in 2003 with the Wisconsin National Guard 32nd Military Police Co. Her unit was on patrol in Baghdad when they came under attack and Witmer, a gunner in a Humvee, was firing her weapon when she was shot and killed on April 9, 2004.
She was 20.
The Witmer family's two other daughters were also serving in Iraq at the time of Michelle's death: Rachel, who served in the same unit as Michelle, and Michelle's twin, Charity.
Lori Witmer said the emotional energy it takes to tell their daughter's story is difficult, particularly coming up on the anniversary. But they agreed to do it because they felt the questions are important and need to be asked.
"After he got the call from the CNN producer yesterday, the emotions were kind of raw and he was getting angry," Lori Witmer said.
CNN was seeking someone to represent military families when they contacted veterans group Dryhootch in Milwaukee, and a representative of Dryhootch got in touch with John Witmer on Friday. At first John Witmer declined, but when he told his wife, she encouraged him to submit questions.
This is what he came up with:
■If you become Commander-in-Chief how will you approach the decision to go to war and will you spend the blood of our soldiers only as a last resort?
■With three daughters in the Army National Guard, I saw, firsthand, their struggle for respect and recognition. In the last few years, restrictions have been lifted on our female soldiers, allowing them to serve in combat positions. As Commander-In-Chief what position will you take on the role of women in the Military?
■Today's military is an all volunteer force that relies heavily on reservists. I've heard sound bites from some of the candidates talking about "wiping out ISIS" and other terrorist organizations. Do you believe our troop strength is sufficient to do this and if necessary, would you reinstate the draft to accomplish your goals?
"The more I thought about this, the more I felt like every candidate should have to answer these questions," John Witmer said in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. "Really the greatest power the president has is to commit our armed forces in war. The president doesn't make laws, he leads and commands our armed forces and to not address that up front is to leave a big part of the puzzle undone.
"I want every president to understand the human cost of war. I don't think it's something as a nation we confront enough. When I hear Sarah Palin say 'I want to go kick ISIS' ass' without any thought to the human cost, I cringe," he said.
Zann referred questions to CNN's public relations department. Lauren M. Pratapas, director of CNN Communications, confirmed that only people committed to voting in the Republican primary could ask questions at the Republican event.
While media insiders may know how broadcast debates and "town hall meetings" are manipulated, there's not much transparency to the public, said Kelly McBride, a media ethicist at the Poynter Institute.
"This whole scenario where there's a debate and producers cast citizen questionnaires, I hear more stories about how that process is skewed. People can't ask the questions they want to ask," McBride said. "This doesn't surprise me at all. This is fairly common. It's weird to say you have to vote in the primary in order to ask the questions because you're setting people up to lie, you're encouraging them to pretend they're something they're not."
Wisconsin has an open primary, and voters aren't required to vote strictly along party lines. McBride pointed out that there's no way for CNN, the candidates or political parties to know who someone votes for in Wisconsin anyway since ballots are secret.
McBride said it's a strong possibility that the rule that only people pledging to vote for one of the Republican candidates in the Wisconsin primary could ask questions was a demand from the Republican party or the candidates or both. That will change in the general election when a federal commission on debates takes over the process.
"In a couple instances we know the candidates themselves have gone around the party and tried to manipulate the format. It's likely CNN is getting pressure from either the party or any and all of the candidates," said McBride, who added, "just because CNN is getting pressure doesn't mean they have to succumb to it."
John Witmer posted his questions on his Facebook page Tuesday morning and his opinion of CNN's decision refusing to allow him to ask them. His wife reposted it and told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Tuesdayafternoon that even though John didn't get to ask his questions, she thinks all presidential candidates should answer them.
"They need to answer the questions because they affect every single family in the country," said Lori Witmer.
