# This cycle what are 'gotcha questions' asked of Democrats?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141
**Category:** Politics & Elections
**Created:** [August 18, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141 "2015-08-18T03:26:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/1 "2015-08-18T03:26:33Z")
I have a lot to say, but I don’t want to poison the well in the OP.
This election cycle, what questions are being asked (or should/will be) of Democratic candidates that they won’t answer because it will piss off some of their supporters no matter what they say?
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/2 "2015-08-18T04:10:13Z")
Support for the Keystone pipeline
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/3 "2015-08-18T04:14:27Z")
Why did you vote for the war in Iraq?
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### Author:  [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/4 "2015-08-18T05:19:30Z")
Why should we vote for a pinko commie bastard?
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### Author:  [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/5 "2015-08-18T05:27:56Z")
Well, we could do worse. We _have_ done worse.
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### Author:  [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/6 "2015-08-18T06:19:09Z")
True, but you forgot to phrase it in the form of a question.
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### Author:  [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/7 "2015-08-18T07:02:59Z")
Gun control for Sanders.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/8 "2015-08-18T11:31:34Z")
> [@Jophiel](#):
>
> Support for the Keystone pipeline
As long as oil prices stay low, the Keystone pipeline won’t be an issue. It’s much easier to oppose it with $40 oil prices.
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### Author:  [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/9 "2015-08-18T11:46:07Z")
Trade is always a tough one for Democrats, as is asking how Democrats will pay for their programs. Ben Carson got taken to school by Chris Wallace on Fox because his 10% flat tax doesn’t raise enough revenue. Democrats should also be questioned on how they think they can pay for all they are going to promise while only taxing the top 1%, or in some cases, the top 0.1%. And all this when we’re facing a huge increase in entitlement spending, a problem Democrats resolutely refuse to deal with at all.
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/10 "2015-08-18T12:24:12Z")
Since when do Democrats “only tax the top 1%”?
Do you understand what social insurance is?
\_
I’m sorry, those were questions to **adaher.**
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### Author:  [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/11 "2015-08-18T12:27:55Z")
Democrats don’t raise taxes anymore except on the smallest sliver of the richest taxpayers. If that is changing, then they’ll tell us when they answer those questions.
“How do you intend to pay for this massive infrastructure program?”
“I’ll raise taxes 2 percentage points across the board.”
Okay, that would be an adult answer.
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/12 "2015-08-18T12:30:53Z")
Mrs. Clinton, will your husband be a special key advisor in your Presidency?
Mr. Sanders, do you support Palestinian statehood? Do you support an expansion of work visas for migrant labor?
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### Author:  [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/13 "2015-08-18T12:32:00Z")
You didn’t say, “raise taxes,” you said, “tax.” Not the same thing.
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### Author:  [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/14 "2015-08-18T12:40:11Z")
A better gotcha question that shocking no one has ever asked Clinton is, “You say that experience is your primary asset. Yet your resume, eight years as a Senator and four as Secretary of State, is no more impressive than any of your primary opponents. Is there some kind of experience you are referring to that you haven’t mentioned explicitly?”
That would have been an even better question in 2008, when you had the spectacle of a junior Senator running against several candidates with MUCH better resumes and claiming that she was the experienced candidate. Why the press gave her a complete pass on having to explicitly name her experience intrigues me.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/15 "2015-08-18T14:32:27Z")
I think the word “cycle” is a micro-aggression against Hillary Clinton.
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### Author:  [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/16 "2015-08-18T14:46:19Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#):
>
> Gun control for Sanders.
That.
> [@foolsguinea](#):
>
> Mrs. Clinton, will your husband be a special key advisor in your Presidency?
Not a gotcha but a given. And it works in her favor, btw.
> [@](#):
>
> Mr. Sanders, do you support Palestinian statehood?
How is that a gotcha?
> [@](#):
>
> Do you support an expansion of work visas for migrant labor?
He does. Again, so?
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/17 "2015-08-18T14:52:05Z")
Democrats are focusing tax increase efforts on the top 1% because that’s where the money is. If you want to get significant taxes out of anyone else, you need to first get them on a financial footing where they _have_ significant money to tax.
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### Author:  [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/18 "2015-08-18T15:49:44Z")
> [@Chronos](#):
>
> Democrats are focusing tax increase efforts on the top 1% because that’s where the money is. If you want to get significant taxes out of anyone else, you need to first get them on a financial footing where they _have_ significant money to tax.
It doesn’t hurt (electorally) to make sure 99% of voters are unaffected, either!
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/19 "2015-08-18T16:03:42Z")
So, how about that Trans-Pacific Partnership?
Ms. Clinton, if you are elected, would your husband be referred to as the First Lord, First Gentleman, First Bubba, or Just Bill?
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-cycle-what-are-gotcha-questions-asked-of-democrats/728141/20 "2015-08-18T16:11:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#):
>
> How is that a gotcha?
It’ll point out a divide in the left wing base. A lot of [liberals](http://www.ldfp.eu/) support Palestine. But there are also a lot of [liberals](http://www.liberalsforisrael.org/) who support Israel. Any position Sanders takes on this subject is going to offend some of his supporters.
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