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YouTube to Host Presidential Debate

Posted by Zonk on from the bringing-dancing-cats-to-the-world-of-politics dept.

skotte writes "Wired is reporting that July 23 at the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, Anderson Cooper will host presidential debates in which debaters are asked 20-30 questions culled from a specially designated section of YouTube, where the voting populace can post questions directly. You and I (assuming you're American, probably) can ask questions ourselves, not just a reporter in a crowd. Candidates won't know which questions they are being asked, and the video selection process will remain a complete secret. Interesting, but also the slightest bit scary."

1 of 180 comments (clear)

  1. Been done before by Harmonious+Botch · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Ok, video is new, but this has been done before with more traditional formats. We've seen questions from the audience - sometimes even live - to presidential candidates before. The problem has always been not the questions, but the answers. Ask any question you want, but there is no way to compel the candidate to really answer it. Most don't.

    What they do is speak about the topic with prepared mini-speeches...

    Voter: Sir, does the right to free speech mean I can burn a flag?

    Candidated: Let me tell you, I stand second to none in my love for the flag or this great country that it stands for. That flag represents all the people who have risked their lives and died to save her...

    And after ten minutes of posturing and spouting non-sequiturs, he still will not have said yes or no. But for some reason, most people do not seem to notice the fact.

    What we need is not a new way of asking questions, but a new way of getting answers.

    I personally favor the rack.