Dear George,

This is Ryan Ford, from Republican Youth Majority. You asked for my comments about [Showtime's 'American Candidate' series], so here's what I think.

I was invited to a taping of the show [of the town hall meeting] by Republicans for Choice. I like the premise to engage the average person in politics in order to allow him/her to be more informed in the real election and also to increase the discussion about contraversial topics that politicians intentionally avoid. However, I think the show is very biased towards the liberal ideology, and I also don't think the candidates were very provocative.

Of the 7 candidates on the show, nearly all of them took the liberal position on the topics discussed, be it gun control, the PATRIOT act, death penalty, war in Iraq or affirmative action. This, combined with a left-leaning audience, enhanced that point of view, which would make the average, uninformed American more sympathetic to that argument. On top of that, the candidates which came off as representing the Republican party (Park Gillespie and Richard Mack) were much more conservative than the mainstream Republican party and casted the Republican party in a negative light to the average citizen. In addition, the candidates casted enhanced the stereotype that Republicans are only older white Christian males.

On the other side, it showed the seemingly Democratic candidates as diverse, younger and more energetic, and because of the sheer numbers of liberals/conservatives, the debate was largely one-sided. While this may have been an unintended effect, the way the casting was done skews the audience into aligning with the liberal point of view. If the show had brought in more moderate Republicans of different races, sexes, religions and ideologies, not only would it have been a more realistic representation of the Republican party, but it would have made for a more interesting show.

While I support Republicans for Choice, these comments represent neither the views of Republicans for Choice or Republican Youth Majority.

Sincerely,

Ryan Ford (electronic mail, June 24, 2004)

Editor's Note: "Mack, a lifelong member of the Republican Party, bolted the party to run as the Libertarian candidate for governor this year." (Katharine Biele, The Salt Lake City Weekly, June 24, 2004)

See also the Republican Youth Majority's positions on Issues.