By Douglas Durden
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
A viewer question about former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's allegiance to the Boston Red Sox got a laugh from Mitt Romney.
By Tampa Tribune/Kelvin Ma
By Tampa Tribune/Kelvin Ma
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You have to give them points for imagination.
Among the almost 5,000 YouTube video questions submitted (but not necessarily used) to last night's Republican debate, were:
Is this democracy at work or amateur filmmaking?
Whichever, the marriage between politics and the Internet continues to thrive. Last night's event, the Republican version of the CNN-YouTube-sponsored debate for eight Democratic presidential candidates in July, is only the latest example.
Since 1996, the Internet has played a greater role with each election cycle, according to Robert E. Denton Jr., a political communications expert who holds the W. Thomas Rice Chair of Leadership Studies at Virginia Tech.
In 2000, John McCain demonstrated how a Web site can raise money.
In 2004, bloggers became an alternative source of information.
In 2006, look what YouTube did to Virginia's Sen. George Allen with the "Macaca" video, Denton said.
"In 2008, we're not sure what the major lesson will be," he said. "But we know every major campaign has a Web site and is contributing to social networks like YouTube, MySpace and Facebook."
Denton points out that Barack Obama has made an appearance as an avatar on Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world.
And what have the two CNN-YouTube debates brought to the political process?
Entertainment and drama, according to Denton.
"They also allow a certain tone of questioning that perhaps legitimate reporters wouldn't ask," he said. "It goes beyond boxers or briefs.
"I guess I'm showing my age -- 54 -- but I'm not sure I find them all that informative. But at least it allows you to see how these candidates relate to surprise or difficult questions. Perhaps you get more of a sense of how they think on their feet."
Among the almost 5,000 YouTube video questions submitted (but not necessarily used) to last night's Republican debate, were:
- a same-sex immigration question posed by a talking stuffed animal;
- a query about video game censorship from a video game character, and;
- a descendant of Norwegian immigrants who ended his question with an offer of lutefisk.
Is this democracy at work or amateur filmmaking?
Whichever, the marriage between politics and the Internet continues to thrive. Last night's event, the Republican version of the CNN-YouTube-sponsored debate for eight Democratic presidential candidates in July, is only the latest example.
Since 1996, the Internet has played a greater role with each election cycle, according to Robert E. Denton Jr., a political communications expert who holds the W. Thomas Rice Chair of Leadership Studies at Virginia Tech.
In 2000, John McCain demonstrated how a Web site can raise money.
In 2004, bloggers became an alternative source of information.
In 2006, look what YouTube did to Virginia's Sen. George Allen with the "Macaca" video, Denton said.
"In 2008, we're not sure what the major lesson will be," he said. "But we know every major campaign has a Web site and is contributing to social networks like YouTube, MySpace and Facebook."
Denton points out that Barack Obama has made an appearance as an avatar on Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world.
And what have the two CNN-YouTube debates brought to the political process?
Entertainment and drama, according to Denton.
"They also allow a certain tone of questioning that perhaps legitimate reporters wouldn't ask," he said. "It goes beyond boxers or briefs.
"I guess I'm showing my age -- 54 -- but I'm not sure I find them all that informative. But at least it allows you to see how these candidates relate to surprise or difficult questions. Perhaps you get more of a sense of how they think on their feet."