YouTube debate

So tonight is the CNN/YouTube debate for democratic presidential hopefuls to be held in South Carolina. I find myself extremely excited over this relatively new form of public discourse. First, and maybe most importantly, I think the use of online tools like YouTube and Wikipedia will influence more youth to be more informed and involved in politics. I was watching a sample of the YouTube questions submitted, and many of them came from kids who aren't yet 18. Seeing this gave me a slight glimmer of optimism for the future of our country.

Another reason I'm excited about this style of debate is, as CNN has discussed, the public has submitted questions that the press may not have considered. Further, I think the sight of a person who has a particular concern adds a sense of humanity, and therefore urgency, to the decisions politicians make. Video of an injured veteran sitting in a wheelchair and asking about health insurance is worth more than a thousand words.

There are potential problems with this style of CNN/YouTube debate. A board of CNN execs had to go through the 3000 submitted videos and select about 75 that will be available for moderator Anderson Cooper to use. Whenever a single entity (in this case CNN) has the power to design a debate, there runs the risk of a bias. At the same time, though, more traditional debates had even fewer people (often just the moderator) choosing which questions to ask. Until political parties can convince their presidential candidates to convene in city halls around the country and allow townspeople to ask uncensored questions, I suppose this YouTube style debate is the best we can do.

Anyway, feel free to agree or disagree with me about how awesome this new debate style is. Watch the debate tonight and tell me what made an impression on you.