Viral Video Catches Edwards' Attention

Before the dawn of YouTube and "viral videos," this video that a University of North Carolina journalism student, Carla Babb, made for an MTV contest and posted online probably wouldn't have drawn this much attention. Take a look:



When this was posted on YouTube last week, Babb's professor C. A. Tuggle said, as quoted in this New York Times article, he quickly received a call from officials in Edwards' campaign complaining about the video and asking that it be taken down.

Edwards' officials say they never made this demand. Regardless, the commotion made over the video has only made it more popular online. As Tuggle put it in this CNN report, "they didn't want us to put it out there... now it's everywhere." This speaks to the way the internet can make the concerns of everyday citizens more visible to politicians.

Were the YouTube Debates Revolutionary?

One thing that interested me about the first YouTube debate was the introduction. In it, YouTube user Chris requested:

…since this is such a "revolutionary debate," that you as politicians can do something "revolutionary," and that is to actually answer the questions that are posed to you tonight.

How do you think the Democrats fared with this challenge? Did they answer difficult questions directly, or did they "dip and dodge," as YouTube user Will puts it, despite the unique format of the debates?

The YouTube debates changed the way we ask politicians questions, but it seems it didn't change how they answer them. The Republican debate airs November 28, and I'm not expecting it to be any better in this regard.