July 20, 2007
BABY I'M A STAR
 |
Work that video! |
Monday night in Charleston, S.C., CNN's Anderson Cooper will host the first-ever YouTube presidential debate. Democratic candidates will respond to questions submitted on YouTube by regular people all across the country.
The Washington Post this week suggested that the YouTube/CNN debate could be a 21st Century equivalent to the groundbreaking Kennedy-Nixon debate that marked television's dominance in political communications.
Don't you think the presidential candidates need to hear from you?
So jump in — people with HIV/AIDS, activists and advocates can submit video questions at YouTube through Sunday here. And if you've never made and posted a YouTube video, there are good instructions here.
Here are some suggestions for some provocative questions on domestic issues from C2EA AIDSVote activists:
- I'm a person living with HIV/AIDS in (your city/state) and I'm angry. Did you know half the people with HIV in the U.S. don't get basic health care? Did you know a quarter-million people in the U.S. need antiretroviral treatment but can't get it? Will you promise to provide HIV care and prevention services to every single person living with HIV in the U.S. as part of your universal health care initiatives?
- I'm a person living with HIV/AIDS in (your city/state) and I'm angry. Did you know that the U.S. requires other countries to come up with a national plan to fight AIDS in order to get help from our global AIDS programs, but we don't have a plan of our own for the United States? Will you promise to develop a plan to provide universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010 as we agreed to do at the United Nations last year?
- I'm an African-American living with HIV/AIDS in (your city/state) and I'm outraged. The AIDS epidemic is hitting our community harder than any other. We've got way more than our share of HIV infections, AIDS diagnoses and AIDS deaths. Too many blacks are being denied access to treatment and prevention tools we know are working where they're available. Will you promise a crash effort to bring down HIV infections and bring up health care access in African American communities around the country?
And you can check out the AIDSVote 08/08 STOP AIDS platforms here for more ideas. Get your bad self out there on YouTube and maybe our friend Anderson will be introducing you on CNN on Monday night!