And, if the GOP has ANY testosterone & integrety left, they will sue CNN and demand a do-over with submitted questions reviewed by noted conservatives (Malkin, Dobbs, Beck, etc.)
Why?
You guys are doing your nuts in over some questions in a debate. What you seem to want is rigorously controlled 'debate' with pre-approved questions that will only tell us of the minor differences between the conservative stances that each man would take.
If you are concerned about who questions about 'cliche conservative' issues will play in the media to the extent that you seem not to want them to be allowed to be asked (pre-screening would remove any questions about gays in the military or abortion whatever the back ground of the questioner) - maybe, just maybe, the problem is not with the question, but your terror of the public response to the answer. And maybe, just maybe that's because the answer is a problem.
Possibly I'm just used to more open debate in venues such as the BBC's
Question Time, cos I tell you what, although you can guess at the questions each week, you cannot always guess at the audience response and I would not want to be a beleaguered member of the government at one of those sessions.
I'd find it just as bizarre if this response had all come from Democrats to republican affiliated questioners in a democrat debate. I'd also find it bizarre if there was actually any proof that this initiative had come from more than just democrat-affiliated individuals because it wasn't really worth the effort.