YouTube makes it interesting
A RECIPE for dull television: Eight candidates. Eight sets of talking points. Seven suits and one tasteful dress or pants suit. Two or three members of the press trying to get the candidates to say something unscripted.
CNN couldn't change the number of candidates on the stage in South Carolina Monday night, but with the help of YouTube it changed the questioners. The 3,000 people who sent in video-clip questions, winnowed to 39 by the news network, helped produce the most engaging debate of the campaign.
A question about global climate change generated greater interest when it was asked by an animated snowman, rather than a journalist. And a gun enthusiast's fervid defense of his "baby" (he was holding a military-style rifle) provoked the tartest rejoinder of the night. "He needs help," said Senator Joe Biden of Delaware. "I don't know if he's mentally qualified to own that gun."
With eight candidates onstage, direct confrontations were rare. But the unconventional debate highlighted important differences between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the two Democratic front-runners, on foreign policy. Asked about the Iraq war, Obama said: "The time for us to ask how we were going to get out was before we got in." This was a slap at Clinton's vote to allow President Bush to go to war, a decision Obama opposed.
In response to a later question, Obama said he would meet the leaders of Syria, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea in his first year as president. But meetings with these leaders, all antagonistic toward the United States, would be counterproductive unless preceded by an enormous amount of preparation and preliminary agreements. Clinton had the savvier answer. She promised extensive use of diplomacy but wouldn't commit to face-to-face meetings "unless we know what the way forward would be."
The Democrats' next debate will be in Des Moines Aug. 19, with questions by ABC's George Stephanopoulos and a local journalist. It promises to be yet another slog through the usual sound bites, so maybe organizers should call upon Internet users to help liven it up. The Republicans will get their own YouTube debate Sept. 17. Perhaps the questioners can find distinctions among the many GOP candidates who have embraced the same pro-war, anti-tax rhetoric.
Before the Democrats' debate, some YouTube enthusiasts were angry that CNN was choosing the questions. There are no plans for similar debates, but given the liveliness of Monday night's, they should be a recurring feature of the campaign. With appropriate monitoring, the YouTube community ought to make the selections. When a presidential campaign is a year-and-a-half long, candidates should jump at any chance to make it lively. 