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First it was PBS, and now Mitt Romney is dissing Nickelodeon. The Republican presidential candidate told the children’s channel that he is too busy to participate in its annual Kids Pick The President special. “He just officially declined on Thursday,” a Nickelodeon spokesperson told Deadline today. The Romney campaign did not respond to queries about not being involved in the special, which will air October 15. Romney will appear instead in clips from various campaign events of him addressing issues related to children. President Obama will be taking part: According to Nickelodeon, Obama recently watched video questions from children around the U.S. and gave responses in a session filmed at the White House. “By answering kids’ questions directly, candidates show respect for kids,” NickNews host Linda Ellerbee said in a statement today. “We are disappointed that Mitt Romney wouldn’t take the time to answer the questions, but are thrilled that President Obama participated in the special.” After the special, children can vote online for who they think should be the next president. The results, which have mirrored the general election five of the last six races, will be announced October 22.
Romney ruffled some feathers in the first presidential debate last week when he said he loved Big Bird but confirmed he would cut federal money to PBS. Since then, the Sesame Street character has become a fixture of political rhetoric and on social media. Big Bird even showed up on Saturday Night Live this weekend to defend himself and the network.
Related: Romney Attack On PBS Was “Most Watched” Moment Of Last Night’s Debate
Deadline's Dominic Patten - tip him here.
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They don’t vote. He doesn’t care about them. If he gets elected he’ll probably end school lunches.
Probably end Michelle Obama’s version of school lunches that children throw away and don’t bother eating.
Exactly!
Don’t let facts get in the way of your ideology.
I wish he would but that isn’t a plan of his. Its only BO and his surrogates that are out there saying that so they can scare people like you!! Maybe the parent(s) should give up that new flat screen TV or those new NIKE shoes and put their child first by sending a lunch to school instead of making the rest of us pay for it!
Finally a debate Barry will win, if Mitt becomes Prez does this mean he’ll do away with ALL childrens programing?
I bet “Big Bird” would be really tasty, how many familys could he feed?
Barry can never beat Willard as long as Willard refuses to use facts in his answers.
This country needs jobs. Nobody outside the Hollywood bubble cares that Mitt blew off Nickelodeon.
Um… we don’t care in here, either. Unemployment in California is 10.6%.
And thanks to Obama, the jobs report released last week came out positive.
And Obama cares about kids, and Michelle is fighting childhood obesity. Kudos. This is exactly what our country needs right now. Why changes horses in mid-stream.
Obama’s a win win in my book.
Oh you laughable lib. You and your ilk screamed and sqauwked for years blaming Bush for the disasterous job numbers….BUT when one comes in not as bad it’s because of Obama. I repeat….oh you laughable lib.
The only reason the unemployment came down was California didn’t send their poor jobs report! PLUS BO doesn’t count all the people that have stopped looking AND all the people that were self employed who don’t qualify for unemployment! Just wait till November when the numbers come out that include California. Ya, you stick with Obama and go down with the ship.
If you don’t like this Hollywood bubble, then why are you even here?
This one had nothing to do w Hollywood bubble. When I was 8 yrs old I have clear recollection of forming my first partisan opinion . It has not changed since . First impressions count. It may not help Mitt, but would boost the GOP now and more profoundly later. Chalk this up as piss poor pr and the potential to turn off potential future party members . It’s just stupid
Is it just me thinking that they’re too young to vote so Romney almost certainly thinks why bother? It would take 10 minutes to pre-record for goodness sake.
I still remember when Clinton did some kind of MTV town hall program and it garnered all that press even though President Bush refused. It wasn’t so much the actual show that got all the attention, but all the press around it. Even if you didn’t watch it, you knew that Clinton was out there listening to the concerns of people not old enough to vote. I’d imagine the Nick audience is much younger, but this isn’t some joke broadcast. Getting kids interested in the electoral process is why every elementary school does those mock elections. Even if it doesn’t get the president a single vote, I’m glad he’s taking the time be there for viewers who might otherwise tune out.
Bill Clinton won with less than 50% of the vote. He got somewher in zhe neghborhood of 46%. MTV had nothing to do with him winning, Ross Perot did. winning.
I can see the liberal media swooning … LOOK HOW HIP AND COOL OUR PRESIDENT IS!! Yes, because we need a “hip” and “cool” president rather then … Oh, I don’t know, a natural leader and confident figure, someone with a plan to get the country back on its feet. Nope, we need a pop-culture president. Honestly?! This is some kind of joke, right? The President was a disaster at the REAL debate, but, oh, he made up for it here, receiving soft-ball questions from five year olds. Tough guy!!
Romney is a moral man. He knows he can lie to adults and get away with it but it’s wrong to lie to children.
Hahaha when parsing the ravings of the rabid Right, a deep sense of inadequacy emerges. The obsession with “HIP” and “COOL” (your emphasis) basically tells us that you aren’t. How envious you are of our President! I guess if Obama is “HIP” and “COOL” that makes Romney stiff and boring? That would set your world right again, wouldn’t it?
And all this because President Obama took the time to talk to the kids when your big hero Mitt kicked them to the curb, which you applaud.
Righties are pathetic.
So its OK with you that BO ran off to Vegas to get more money out of that cash-strapped state while 4 diplomats lie dead in Benghazi, victims of a terrorist attack? He runs from problems, he always has, but it is extremely irresponsible of the American leader to first of all LIE and say it was silly video then hit the road! THEN go on THE VIEW instead of meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu. He is despicable! Its time for a REAL leader who doesn’t run and hide behind Big Bird or little children when trouble comes. Its not a bump in the road Mr. President but 4 human beings!
I participated in “Kids Pick the President” when I was a child, and it helped make me a better citizen. The program made me care about my rights and responsibilities as an American long before I could vote. If you don’t think it matters that a president takes a rare opportunity to engage with America’s youth, you are sorely mistaken. A REAL leader understands that his policies will affect every American, regardless of age. “Kids Pick the President” has probably been the most important political forum for people under 18 for well over 20 years. It wouldn’t have been a particularly onerous obligation for Mr. Romney; what fundraiser would he have missed to record a few brief responses? Clearly, he and his campaign do not understand what they’ve missed out on here. It’s worth mentioning that I once watched these specials with my parents, so how many current voters with kids will he have failed to impress by not showing? Even young children will understand that the party that doesn’t send its candidate doesn’t really care.
Rhymes,
Kids care. Actions speak louder than words and right now, kids are fed up with Michelle Obama’s “One Size Fits All” lunch program. I am willing to bet that most schools will vote Romney in lockstep with the rest of the nation come November 6th.
And remember — the media is not liberal, they just go after the most human stories. (Also, from what I could tell from my limited viewing of the debate, Romney had a vague and ambiguous plan but was very confident when he spoke, while the President had lots of facts and details about his plan and spoke poorly.)
This is the future generation of voters learning now how exciting and important it is to participate in our democratic process. So if you give a damn inspire younger generations of Americans to become voters later in life. I still remember the first time I voted… in a classroom Kids Pick the President mock election (Clinton won and Clinton won).
The last known Republican to address a kids audience was Pres Bush reading My Pet Goat…I’m sure Romney doesn’t want to discuss cutting Big Bird in front of a bunch of kids and have Michael Moore use the footage in Slo-Mo against him later…
And so it goes, Mitt.
Kind of a damned if you do/damned if you don’t proposition. The special is only valuable if both or neither candidates partipate.
Thank God there’s a candidate out there who understands that no one outside of Hollywood gives a shit about Hollywood. Who cares what some network for kids thinks about the election? It’s pandering for TV cameras – the only thing Obama is good at.
Wow. Encouraging kids to engage in politics and remain abreast of what is happening in our government even though they cannot yet vote is a valuable thing. It makes children smarter voters once they hit the age of 18. It is not pandering. Those kids will one day be adults and as the article indicates it is actually a fairly good barometer for the political climate in the adult world, seeing as many kids (at least the politically active ones) share their parents’ views.
This is not about Hollywood or the entertainment industry, it is about showing respect to all citizens and encouraging kids to think beyond the scope of their favorite MTV show or who is going to ask whom to prom. Mitt Romney’s over inflated sense of self-importance is offensive, and his dismissiveness of this very positive TV special just screams of a lack of appreciation for youth and education.
h
Oh kids are going to vote the way their parents tell them to. And then they are going to vote the way their professors tell them to. And maybe, just maybe, a decade down the road, they’ll figure out how to make their own damn minds up and vote for who they think is the best candidate.
I guarantee you, however, that what they saw on Nickelodeon when they were toddlers, won’t mean a flip.
You. Don’t. Know. That.
Actually, I watched the Kids Pick the President special when I was younger. It was one of the things that made me excited to vote when I finally turned 18, which also happened to be an election year. It was one of my first introductions to the process as a child, and gave me a base of information to grow on as I went through my history classes and government classes.
Mitt Romney is showing he is only thinking of himself, not the future of his party. He’s also not thinking of the future of the country. It’s cliche to say the children are the future, but they are. Getting them informed about things in a way that suits their learning style and getting to them young is why participation in specials like the Nickelodeon one are important.
so nick has influenced you politically. not some school teacher or our parents. but some cable channel that produced hanna montana.no wonder people cannot find good jobs.
No, they don’t. My kids don’t do shit I tell them re: personal choices let alone how to vote, just like I didn’t do what my parents told me. Your children may follow your orders, but given your obvious politics, that’s because you beat them into submission.
Dudette
Hannah Montana was Disney
Romney is stupid for passing this up but they realized because of his Big Bird budget cut for PBS he is afraid to answer their questions. He should explain to them why PBS can still stay afloat by selling some advertising time he could teach them how our economy works and gain votes. Republican idiots advising him.
The joke tells itself – time for the empty chair approach.
No – they cannot vote but it is about educating our youth and getting them involved in the political process at an early age. Hard to believe he does not have a few minutes for this.
As a kid, I HATED Kids Pick the President. Nobody ever watched Nick News, nor voted for this thing.
However, I’m not a Political Science Major who loves the elections. This won’t swing kids one way or the other.
And frankly, Romney should be elsewhere. Good choice!
Agreed. The second “Rocko’s Modern Life” was over, I changed the channel. Nick’s supplemental programming like this was all boring garbage anyway, and still is as far as I can tell.
What is the largest voting block with whom Gov. Romney is having trouble? Women. National elections are not won based on singular moments in time. Like avalanches they tend to be more “a snowflake here, a snowflake there” events. By declining, Gov. Romney sends the message, however slight but still perceptible, that he doesn’t care about a huge portion of the population – kids, my kids. I think this would have given him another great chance to show the more personable side of himself the campaign has emphasized in the last week. I also think, for a minimal investment in time, it would have also given him a chance to speak to parents, especially moms, by ostensibly talking to their children. He’s missing an opportunity to drop some more snowflakes here and there.
Well, the MTV thing was being broadcast to actual voters; people over 18 watched MTV regularly then (and still do now). Nickelodeon’s tween audience isn’t quite the same thing.
I do expect the media to make an uproar about this, though; what else do they have to work with?
Romney is too busy. He’s running a national campaign for the highest most demanding and complicated job in the world. But so is Obama AND Obama is doing that job at the same time. Romney is a light weight.
Good move by Romney…
The last time someone White House related was on Nick….Michelle Obama was on iCarly. The ratings were not good, and the long running show got the ax not much later after airing the episode
Romney is in a Damned You Do-Damn You Don’t situation with this Nick thing. And, the Obama campaign must be really fizzling if this is the only thing they have to go against Romney
For those of you who don’t see the value in having a candidate appear on an election-themed special for kids is wrong. Like, Romney wrong.
And while it’s really NOT that deep whether Rommey appears or not, it could be indicative of his concern or lack thereof in the interests of our young people. You want to know why young people don’t care about the process? Well, shit like this could be a reason.
What? You mean Romney isn’t going to get the great policy adviice that Obama gets from children? Like all the advice he gets from Sasha and Malia about gays and other topics?
Maybe Romney is more interested in saving jobs and fixing the economy than pandering to the liberal press and children.
Obama is the first president who can claim, ‘A child shall lead him’
Hmmm… The candidate who blows off Nickelodeon or the candidate who blows off Netanyahu …??? How EVER will I choose?
I wonder if Romney declined because of the hateful and misogynistic tweets Nickolodeon star Jason Biggs wrote about Ann Romney & Jana Ryan during the Republican Convention. Biggs continues to be employed by Nickolodeon. If he had said the same things about Michelle Obama, he would have been fired and blacklisted from Hollywood.
The GOP polls poorest amongst 18-29 year olds, with the demographic breaking around 65-35. With that in mind, you’d think the GOP would invest in their future and get their candidate and message out to future voters. Not only could they influence potential future voters this decision can also be influence parents who see one candidate willing to address their children and another unwilling to do so. Regardless of the impact, which really can’t be measured one way or the other, the optics of the issue are pretty easy for Democrats to spin, which makes it a mistake for Romney to have skipped this.