YouTube Rocks

A few minutes into Monday night's CNN/You Tube debate at the Citadel Military Academy in South Carolina, Senator Barack Obama said, "I believe in the core decency of the American people..."

After tonight's debate, I'd add that I believe not only in the decency but also in the creativity, caring, informed, sometimes zany sense of humor and street smarts of the people who sent in close to 3000 video-questions.

I've always believed that any politics, whether liberal or "modern progressive" (a term Senator Hillary Clinton coined tonight--what's wrong with liberal, Senator?) is dead on arrival if it ignores, shafts or blames the people. And Monday night, (and who cares if it originated as a gimmick of marketing and synergy) CNN/You Tube gave voice to people.

There were Mary & Jen from Brooklyn, New York, on gay marriage; Reverend Longcrier from Hickory, North Carolina, on religion and equality before the law; a spirited snowman from Minneapolis, Minnesota, on global warming; Morgan of Atlanta, Georgia, asking if the response to Hurricane Katrina would have been different if a mostly white city had been hit; Melissa of San Luis Obispo, California wondering why can she order the same caffe latte macchiato with whipped cream in every state of the union but we don't have standarizing voting systems?

There were people from around the country asking about a way out of Iraq--a mother whose son has been deployed twice, a father who has lost his son. The first question when it came to international politics had to do with how we end the killing in Darfur? (Governor Richardson's answer revealed his skills as a caring and roving diplomat. Hell, anyone who argues for a permanent UN peacekeeping force to prevent war and genocide deserves praise.) There was an Alzheimers patient, a daughter describing her mother's suffering from diabetes, a breast cancer survivor --all spoke directly into the camera about their raw experiences with a crumbling health care system.

And how many inside-the-beltway pundit/questioners have ever bothered to ask the candidates about what they think of reparations for slavery? Education made a rare appearance in the debates in an edgy and clever video about the No Child Left Behind Act--moving Richardson to his scrappy and straight reply--"scrap it"--which brought the house (well, the Citadel military academy) down.

John Edwards' campaign video, scored to the iconic '60s rock opera "Hair" theme song was a classic. Using self-deprecating humor to bring attention to "what really matters" is always a smart idea. And as Frankgrits put it, posting a comment on my blog,Edwards--replying to a question about race and gender, had one of the best lines of the night--"Anyone who won't vote for Hillary because she's a woman or Obama because he's black, don't bother voting for me. I don't want your vote."

As FrankGrits says, that effectively relegated "sexists and racists to the garbage heap where they belong." Now,I don't really care if Joe Biden scored well on those Clockwork Orange people-meter readings CNN used to gauge instant reactions to the debates. What's heartening and hopeful is that tonight marked the end of debates as we've known them. Let the peoples' voices be heard.

Comments (11)

1. one

   Posted by Will C. at 07/23/2007 @ 11:51pm

2. should not throw rocks at glass tubes

   Posted by Will C. at 07/23/2007 @ 11:51pm

3. ""Anyone who won't vote for Hillary because she's a woman or O'Bama because he's black don't bother voting for me. I don't want your vote." I thought that showed a lot of class and relegated the sexists and racists to the garbage heap where they belong. Those people usually vote for republicans anyway."

   Best pander of the night..

   but won't someone please tell Edwards that he isn't going to get anyones votes and he has lost long ago? I felt sorry for the goof ball.

   Posted by john maasch at 07/24/2007 @ 12:07am

4. Although I didn't see the debate, I applaud the democratizing influence of YouTube and the healthy interactions and interdependencies and mutual respectfulness it effectively promotes.

   Posted by lewwelge at 07/24/2007 @ 07:05am

5. Wow, FRANK got a mention by Ms vanden Heuvel? Way to go, FG.

   Is that a first? Have other bloggers been so prominently noted in a "Nation" writer's article?

   Posted by Mask at 07/24/2007 @ 09:03am

6. "Best pander of the night.."

   Posted by JOHN MAASCH 07/24/2007 @ 12:07am

   In his statement, John Edwards appeals to the better of our Christian instincts, and rejects those who would discriminate.

   Maybe you should look up the word "pander".

   Posted by drhammer at 07/24/2007 @ 09:44am

7. .

   Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. All the king's horses and all the king's men Couldn't put Humpty together again.

   Our elected Representatives don't seem concerned about Bush's lawless rampage, and they definitely aren't interested in attempting to check his endless empowerment of himself at the expense of our "balance of powers" or Humpty Dumpty constitution, but don't worry, they've got rock solid plans to win the next election . . . forget Impeachment though.

   The Problem is: "All the King's horses and All the King's men, couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again."

   It sure appears that Humpty has been dumped.

   Who will finally decide the "Decider" has decided way beyond what was his to decide?

   .

   Posted by rabblerowzer at 07/24/2007 @ 09:45am

8. Posted by RABBLEROWZER 07/24/2007 @ 09:45am

   Sorry, RABBLE, but.......huh?!?!?

   Posted by Mask at 07/24/2007 @ 10:08am

9. I was definitely more impressed with many of the Democrats than I had been...except for Kucinich. His notion of virtually phasing war out seemed extremely utopian.

   The one I was most impressed with, though, was actually Joe Biden. On some of the most critical issues, like Iraq and Darfur, he gave very clear, straightforward answers that made far more sense than the kind of alternatives that most candidates were offering.

   Posted by Thrawn at 07/24/2007 @ 10:30am

10. Sexism is still alive and well. Did anyone notice that Hillary Clinton is always referred to by her first name only while the men are called by their last name or full names? Hmmm.

    Posted by vrharris at 07/24/2007 @ 4:22pm

11. Wow, FRANK got a mention by Ms vanden Heuvel? Way to go, FG.

    Is that a first? Have other bloggers been so prominently noted in a "Nation" writer's article?

    Posted by MASK 07/24/2007 @ 09:03am

    BY THE SAME (OR A SIMILAR) TOKEN...

    I just saw that Katha Pollitt has turned her Comments off for this reason:

    "I thought I would enjoy having a comments section on this blog, but as you can see I've turned it off. For some reason, the website's comment sections have been colonized by a small group of trolls--mostly men, mostly conservative -- who post obsessively, rudely, inanely and irrelevantly. I just got tired of hosting their sandbox."

    I think we all know who these rude, inane, and irrelevant conservative trolls are (YOU know who you are!) but still.... One of the things I like most about "The Nation" is precisely that its bloggers don't vet their comments. I think ya gotta let them trollcons troll. I think it's called free speech.

    I also should say, I greatly admire Katha Pollitt's writing, including the article on the Michael Vick dogfighting issue in which this Addendum appeared.

    Posted by w_m_bear at 07/27/2007 @ 5:28pm