There was a main page
thread which started last night which grew to over 500 posts. The topic was "If you could ask one question at the debates" and there were many wonderful suggestions. Since the thread was so long I selected some of the favorites and have listed them here to give them more visibility and to give everyone a chance to vote for the best.
If you do not want to read through the whole list, the top ten are in the extended entry. I edited and combined some of the entries to get the list down to only ten. I suggest you read the whole list if you haven't already.
1. (suggested by existenz)
Mr. President, NBC news has reported that before the Iraq war you passed on three opportunities to attack the terrorist camps of Al Qaeda terrorist Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, who was based in the areas of Iraq that were not controlled by Saddam. Why did you not attack these camps when you had the chance, considering that he is now responsible for hundreds of terrorist attacks against our forces in Iraq?
2. (suggested by republicansforkerry)
Mr. President, in July of 2003 you said if anyone wanted to attack our troops in Iraq, they should bring it on. In March of this year you appeared at a reporters' dinner and ran a video in which you jokingly stumbled around your office looking for weapons of mass destruction. Can you explain this behavior to the families who have lost loved ones in Iraq?
3. (based on ideas from eyelessgame, bribri and space)
Mr. President, shortly after the terror attack on 9/11, you swore to capture Usama bin Laden, the perpetrator of the greatest crime ever committed against Americans, 'dead or alive'. You also said that finding Usama Bin Laden was "our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him." More recently you have said that you are "just not that concerned" about Usama bin Laden. Why have you failed to bring bin Laden to justice, and do you believe there is a correlation between your lack of concern or the fact that you have taken more vacation time than any President for which records are available, and your inability to kill or capture him?
4. (based on ideas from Smokefilleddoom and Cyberactor)
Mr. President, you recently received a formal intelligence assessment provided by your own agencies, indicating that our mission in Iraq was in great danger of failing. You described this as the CIA 'just guessing'. and indicated that you did not believe what it said. Given your lack of confidence in this NIE, and given all of the intelligence failures that you have acknowledged over the past four years, why have you not fired or replaced a single member of your staff, and what intelligence sources do you trust to give you an accurate assessment of the situation in Iraq in order to make decisions as Commander-in-Chief?
5. (based on ideas from LisaDawn82 and ETinKC)
Mr. President, with over 130,000 troops in Iraq, over 6,000 mutilated from the war and over 1,000 dead, why are you cutting funding to the VA, and why did you try to cut hazardous duty and separation pay, fight an increase in the death benefit for military families, and instruct VA officials to reduce expenses by denying veterans information about their eligibility? If you are not doing these things, why does the Army Times newspaper say you are?
6. (based on an idea from chickdebater)
Mr. President, with both North Korea and Iran capable of building nuclear weapons, Pakistan acknowledging the selling of nuclear secrets and Russian nuclear scientists fleeing the country, can you please provide some specifics on your plan for international nuclear security and justify the apparent lack of priority of this issue?
7. (based on ideas from Disgusted in St Louis and geneticdem)
Mr. President, on Sept. 11, after being informed by Andrew Card of the 2nd airplane hitting the WTC, you have stated you did not leave immediately because you were concerned about upsetting the children. Why did you remain at the school after leaving the classroom for another 20 minutes of photos with the teachers? If Mr. Card had came to you in that classroom and told you that your family had been carjacked on September 11, would you still have sat there and done nothing for seven minutes in order to avoid upsetting the children?
8. (suggested by madwayne)
Mr. President, do you believe in the Rapture, and if you do, how does this affect your dealings with the Israelis and Palestinians?"
9. (based on an idea from Carl Ballard)
Mr. President, during the 2000 campaign you said that Jesus was the political philosopher you most admired. Yet you've scoffed at the poor and the meek for the last four years. During your first term millions more people fell into poverty, and millions more people don't have healthcare. You've mocked the peacemakers, at one point comparing millions of people around the country and the world trying to stop the war in Iraq a "focus group." My question is, which, if any, of the groups which Jesus blessed in the Beatitudes do you think deserve compassion or respect from your administration?
10. (based on an idea from jackieca)
Mr. President, why is the Republican National Committee sending out campaign material telling people falsely that Democratic party wants to ban their bibles, and how do you reconcile this behaviour with the commandment which proscribes bearing false witness?