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The secret behind the fake restaurant diners during the Fox News debate

youngsrestaurant.com — Did you think the "voters" with questions relayed by Carl Cameron during the Fox News debate were typical patrons enjoying a meal out? Wrong! Young's Restaurant serves only breakfast and lunch and closes by 2:30 pm, except when Fox News wants dinner served to carefully screened "voters" at its private function. Link shows restaurant hours.

Who dugg this? Made popular Sep 7, 2007

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  • madcat033, on 10/10/2007, -5/+97Wow, I didn't know people actually thought that they were really asking normal people.

    And no, if you want confirmation, I went to the debate. After the debate was over, I walked by Young's Restaurant and it had a sign in front that said "closed for private event." So yeah, I can guarantee you 100% that it was staged.

    And come on, if it was really open to whoever, you KNOW that restaurant would have been 99% Ron Paul supporters.
  • conceptkid, on 10/10/2007, -8/+75Holy ***** man, great detective work!! Those questions seemed so staged, it was just embarrassing. Funny how two of them were cops too......typical patriotic *****
  • anbe, on 10/10/2007, -3/+45This is not necessarily news...

    Fox openly admitted on-air that they "invited" these people to the restaurant. That I think, is worse. It's one thing to filter a group from an enthusiastic crowd wanting to take part in the debate and another to actually go and cherry pick your audience. The exact same thing happened with the "scientific" focus group, which by the way, "clearly showed" via dial-a-response graph that Huckabee won the debate with Ron Paul. Two takeaways the MSM wanted you to get that night: McCain should still be in the race, aka poor McCain; and second, if you like Ron Paul, well "Ha-Ha" at you. What I find sickening is how the general doltish blob of the conservative base continues to view RP as a liberal. The GOP should jumping for joy over a candidate who brings Democrats over the aisle when speaking about smaller government and ending the welfare state. The sole issue they essentially disagree with him is the war. When his own stance is backed by the CIA, the 9/11 commission report, and basic Reagan principals, they still laugh. Can ANYONE explain why that is?
  • clintontj72, on 10/10/2007, -15/+49Exactly...great detective work! Faux News get p0wNeD again!
  • katie212, on 10/10/2007, -20/+49I must admit you had me laughing so hard on this one that I just about....well...just was too funny!! Thanks for hurting my ribs! That Faux news will go to great censored lengths to alter viewer opinions...goodness..was so funny....whew!
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -3/+29Somebody post this to Hannity's web site :)
  • NorCalRedNeck, on 10/10/2007, -8/+21If I'm not mistaken they even said they had sent out for a "select" few for this debate. Either way, just shows FIXED news has to use there trolls or they wont get the response they want.
  • garryw, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13I knew a poly sci major wouldn't skip straight to family values.
  • tnoy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13You'd have to be delusional if you didn't think that the people there were pre-screened.
  • Corrosionx, on 10/10/2007, -5/+16People are always hand-chosen at these events, you're deluding yourself.
  • scuvball, on 10/10/2007, -4/+15There's really no surprise that it was a 'staged' q & a session. This is how all debates are, even the democratic debates. They aren't going to let some shmo come in and release some f-bombs or just attack a candidates position.
  • xGORDOx, on 10/10/2007, -10/+21You all act like it's a conspiracy or something.
    The Dem debates are the same thing, and you know, they are also private events.
    Most of Digg just makes fools of themselves forcing laughter and conspiracy if something has FOX or a Republican attached to a story. Get over yourselves, this is how the system works, for both parties.
    What do you think takes place at an auditorium when there isn't a debate? They are closed or there is an event, how is that truly any different than a more "local looking" stage?
    They are both stages, both media events, all of it completely scripted and timed for the sake of corporate sponsors with the intent solely for generating revenue.
    (D) = (R), no difference.
  • Dewhead, on 10/10/2007, -2/+13The majority of both parties voted for the use of force in Iraq.

    http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_keyvote_member.php?cs_id=V3201
    http://www.vote-smart.org/issue_keyvote_member.php?cs_id=V3202
  • jaderobbins, on 10/10/2007, -2/+12OMG KINDA LIKE HOW CNN JUST SHOWED RANDOM UNSCREENED VIDEOS SUBMITTED FOR THE YOUTUBE DEBATE?!?!
  • monkeyrun, on 10/10/2007, -2/+11well, you need some discrepancy in order to make something look believable.
  • janeuner, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10There is no proof - only circumstantial evidence. Nonetheless, this accusation is important because many people expect Journalists to provide unbiased facts and leave the decisions up to the viewer. In this case, the venue was portrayed as unbiased...these allegations call that assertion into question.
  • pilotss, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Most consultants for these shows are fixed too. If you don't give them an opinion that is not juicy enough you will not be brought back. Simple facts don't sell news, it has to be tempting.
    I have witnessed this first hand with aviation incidents. They want terror in the skies, delays, and how much the airlines purposely deceive you. When you give them the inside scoop and it is not as exciting, you never get the story.
    News outlets make the angle of the story that sells the best. News is business. Its not about the truth, its about the profit.
  • Rsardinia, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11ya desperate times call for desperate measures alright. like all the poll fixing, the RP coverage not starting til 30 minutes into the debate, all the questions asked to make him look like a fool (which he still nailed anyways), everyone including hannity taking shots at him, editing him out of pictures on websites, etc. were not being desperate, were just calling FAUX news and all the rest on their ***** lies and tactics.
  • monkeyrun, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7lol... that's pretty funny.

    Stunts like this would've worked really well 10 or 20 years ago.
  • crushtheenemy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8i like how fox thought these upperclass white suburban types generally represent all americans.
    sad sad sad.
  • ColonelJessup, on 10/10/2007, -2/+9Uh, did anyone watch the debates? They admitted that they were keeping the restaurant open after business hours for the debate. They admitted to inviting the people into the restaurant. They said that that particular restaurant has been "serving breakfast and lunch" to it's ptrons for many years now.

    This isn't news, whoever made this article assumes that no one watched the debates.
  • gamegeek1996, on 10/10/2007, -9/+15What Crap!!! Why did they not go into an open restaurant and poll REAL people?? Because 75% of the country is against the war and open borders. GO RON PAUL be like me give money out of each paycheck. Join the Revolution defeat the MSM.
  • parasitewasp, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Why would you think that any debate or town-hall meeting would be random people...lol. I went to an event like this and my job was to be a filler and to not ask questions. My sister-in-law was there to ask a preselected question she was handed before the event. It doesn't matter which political party, they all do it to look wise and informed, that and keep out the crazies who shout "no blood for oil" Think about it don't be naive.
  • fauxtank, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I guess you don't remember when Reagan pulled out of Lebanon after deciding that the people were too irrational to be worth the effort? Was that capitulating the terrorists, or just common sense?
  • cygnus2112, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5I honestly don't see much of a difference. Both were "screened and chosen". Both sides are guilty of lame media tactics.
  • InetRoadkill, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7Except that the vote was based on falsified intelligence data provided to congress by the white house. It would have been interesting to see what the vote would have been if all of the data available to the white house had been made available to congress, rather than a cherry-picked and manipulated subset.
  • stealthc, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7Thank God for the Internet.
  • dreicher, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7What I really want to know is how a site for a "family restaurant" has managed to stay up whereas every other site that gets "Dugg" is down in minutes? Conspiracy?
  • GoingPostal, on 10/10/2007, -5/+9I find that people who use the word Yo, tend to be morons.
  • xjscrf291, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7It's was hardly a secret to most people in attendance. Durham is a relatively small college town. This is hardly some massive right-wing cable news conspiracy. Not that FOX news is a pillar of honest journalism, but this is pretty typical I think.
  • blorc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Yes, there is proof, because Fox admitted it on-air. They specifically said that they selected/invited some of their viewers to attend dinner at the diner and watch the debate.

    I don't think the questions were directly setup (i.e. they weren't reading off que cards or told to ask a specific question); however, I have no doubt that they selected supporters of the "mainstream" candidates that would focus on those candidates rather than the "underdogs."
  • jgrossma, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4They may not have been reading cue cards (or maybe they were) but I would be shocked if the questions weren't pre-screened and approved by Fox and/or the candidate's staffs
  • novablast, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Its absolutely true though. I have eaten there countless times, I actually wish it was open for dinner sometimes. Not the most pleasant experience to walk around UNH this week with all the Fox News banners around campus...
  • phunlee, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6desperate times? i'm a democrat (usually) i think we're doing okay compared to this line up of douchebags. except RPaul of course - he's a republican i'd actually vote for.
  • arcooke, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4pie
  • cygnus2112, on 10/10/2007, -5/+8You mean the restaurant was as staged as the Democrats "YouTube" debate? I'm SHOCKED.
  • cygnus2112, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3"Should be" and "supposed to be" is not reality. Media outlets and the news agencies try to drive legislation and candidates just as much as lobbyists and politicians. They've been knee-deep in corruption for decades. You don't honestly believe New York Times, Washington Post, Fox News, AP, Reuters, Al Jazeera, CNN, CBS, etc etc strive for unbiased bipartisan reporting, do you?
  • Urusai, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6Which television network is consistently biased for the Democrats, lying and manipulating the news to slander Republicans and whitewashing Democratic leadership, while pretending to be "fair and balanced"? That's right, none. Until then, we'll rag on FOX's blatant and harmful agenda.
  • endersshadow, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5How funny. I just ate there like 3 months ago when I was moving a friend out of UNH. Great breakfast, and right across the street from UNH. If you're ever in the Portsmouth/Durham area, check it out.
    Though I'm not really sure what you want from politicians these days. Just assume that they're always lying through their teeth and it'll be all right.
  • evereddie, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Gee, how brilliant. Next thing you'll tell me is: that kid in the movie I saw with my kids last month is not the real Harry Potter. Ya, right.
  • ITpolitico, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Actually the CIA and the 9/11 report do agree with him. For example, when he said that U.S. foreign policy helped to instigate the attacks on 9/11, both the CIA and the 9/11 report said that very same thing. As for Reagan, he is seen as a conservative beacon of this era. In case you don't understand what traditional conservative values are, let me spell out a couple of them for you.

    -Small government - This one is the keystone of conservative values in America. Liberals always want a big government welfare state that is supposed to take care of you, while a true conservative wants to keep the federal government small and limited to Constitutional powers. Ron Paul is very much a Small Gov't person.

    -Non-interventionist - Traditional conservatives don't like getting entangled in all the problems of foreign nations. A true conservative would never say, "Let's fight them over there so we don't have to fight them over here." Of all the "major" wars of the last century, let's compare which President led us to those wars. We got into WW1 in 1917 with Woodrow Wilson as our President. Wilson was a Democrat. We got into WW2 with Franklin Roosevelt as President, another Democrat. Troops initially went into Vietnam under JFK, a Democrat, and escalated under LBJ, another Democrat. Are you starting to see the pattern here?

    -States' Rights - The 10th Amendment states: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Conservatives tend to be strict constructionists of the Constitution. They don't like extrapolating from the text too far and looking for federal power where it isn't granted. The 10th Amendment is a perfect example of that. It is in there specifically to keep the federal government from getting too big.

    Ok I think that's enough of a history lesson for now. Come back if you need more.
  • kuantan97, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Couldn't agree more on the "ha-ha" coming from the other candidates. Of course, it was little more than a condescending dismissal of Ron's views on hacking away at the vast web of bureacratic sludge. They had nothing of note--intelligible, or honestly thought out, I mean--with which to counter, so they portray themselves as having more informed, more mature, outlooks through mere laughter. It also gives a reliable glimpse on just how utterly cynical the powers-that-be are when it comes to our freedoms.
  • kippmbolt, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5The Revolution is gaining speed. Go RON PAUL!!!

    Oh ya, and Faux News is a joke. Your better off watching Oprah for your news.
  • JBURNES, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The web site also said something to the fact that they have been in business for some 37 years now, Didn't.t Carl in the beginning of the debate say that it has been around for something like 1909 or something like that?
  • mtrip, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Shut up with your 'facts' and your 'logic'! This is digg, get with the program, it's conspiracy!
  • inactive, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5Right, based on lies about WMDs. Remember Cheney being "certain" there are weapons?
    If you lie to me and tell me and I believe you, does that make both of us scumbags?
  • ecidnac, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Clearly, they did. I think that's what people are having a problem with here...
  • happyhappyhappy, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5In related news... a number of people were rushed to hospital with food poisoning.
  • JosefK88, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I think many media outlets do STRIVE for unbiased reporting. They may fail in this but not all claim to be successful. Not to demonize FOX News but I think they are one news organization that does claim to be unbiased. This is the issue that I find difficult to deal with. I will assume that town hall meetings will be packed with supporters lobbing softball questions....I will assume that the minutia of debates is controlled to try to give any insignificant advantage....I will assume that nothing I see or read is unbiased or bi or non partisan but when news outlets try to sell that garbage as objective then it is even easier to dismiss them as crap.
  • bartscott57, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Carl Cameron has long been known to be a falsifier of news, so I guess this was to be expected.
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