• by Amanda , November 27, 2007

GOP presidential candidates have been working overtime lately to separate themselves from the current administration and from one another in any way possible. The YouTube Debate slated for November 28th might be their golden opportunity.

I was, and remain, one of the most ardent proponents of this debate format. The July debate was reminiscent of town hall debates with more humor and less stuttering. However, this debate targeted a younger demographic which might have ignored the program altogether if it had not included a technological platform they know/use/love.

See, I personally don’t use YouTube - my only interaction with the site is clicking on emailed links from friends. But I put these debates on my calendar months in advance because it seemed like two rare opportunities where candidates were making it clear that they wanted hear from twenty-somethings. While I know it was just an amazingly marketed ploy to get people to watch CNN, it worked.

So what about this time around? I’m entirely sure we will see similar antics from YouTube questioners, though hopefully the questions asked might enlighten the differences between the individual candidates better than the July versions. I’m not entirely sure who among the candidates will handle the format most comfortably.

I predict Cooper might have to corral some of the men into actually answering the questions rather than simply attacking Hillary, the one thing they have in common these days. McCain will play on his war experience; Giuliani will play on his NYC experience; Romney and Thompson will try their hardest to rattle Giuliani; Huckabee will play it straight – as always.

In any case, all TVs in my house will be tuned in on Nov. 28th.