An Online Presidential Debate
Voters Will Benefit From Interactive Format of Internet Debating
Jul 31, 2007
It is important for the future of mainstream media and American politics that the Democratic Party chose to use You Tube last week for the first ever online Presidential debate. This is not the first blow to the mainstream media dominance of political rhetoric but it is certainly a serious one. Debating online in front of millions of Americans sitting at their computers is an excellent attempt by organizers to get viewers more involved in political discourse.
Historical View
For too long, politics has evolved in a one-sided manner: politicians tell the public what they believe, and rely on partisanship and increasingly dirty get-out-the-vote tactics to carry them to victory on Election Day. Voters have had few real chances to make their wishes known to those in office. The best that one could do is to write a letter or email to their representative in Washington, and hope that enough of their fellow constituents did the same.
In the time-honored tradition of election season debates, interested citizens could sit back and watch journalists and the occasional pre-chosen individual lob easy questions at the well-rehearsed candidates. Animated discourse of any kind was, essentially, a pipe dream.
A New Direction
While it is far-fetched to say that the debate on You Tube has fundamentally changed the way that politicians interact with the public, it is not a stretch to recognize the importance of this step. You Tube, and similar programs, will allow the public far greater access to politicians in the past. As we have seen with the innovative advertisements that some campaigns have posted online, the internet allows for a sense of comfort and ease which is so much more difficult on television and in print. The internet is a ‘cool’ medium (in the language of the ever-relevant Marshall McLuhan) meaning that it requires and allows interaction and engagement from those involved with it. Additionally, unlike a television which one merely turns on and watches, the internet brings and requires a whole new level of action.
The Future of Online Debates
There is no doubt that last week’s You Tube debate will be the first of many in both this campaign and in the future. While the event itself was relatively tame (the public did not get to interact with the candidates), it is important as a precedent. The format of the online debate means that as organizers get more creative, viewers will undoubtedly become participants and become much more involved in what is going on in real time.
Whether we will see the possibilities of the online debate in the 2008 election is not known. It certainly might scare certain candidates and campaigns to allow voters such unfettered access to politicians. However, the internet has proven, time and again, to be a tool ripe for grass roots action, and it is only a matter of when the online debate moves into this interactive, democratic direction.
