[bigboydan]

Clinton heads pack at unique Internet debate
AFP
Published: Monday July 23, 2007


Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton Monday headed into a unique campaign debate featuring questions posed on Internet videos, after cementing her opinion poll lead.

The New York senator was set to face Barack Obama, John Edwards and her other challengers at the debate in South Carolina sponsored by video-sharing website YouTube and CNN at 2300 GMT.

Hailed as "historic" by its co-sponsors, the debate was the first such event solely based on input from voters who uploaded questions to the YouTube site, in the latest sign of the Internet's growing role in US politics.

Nearly 3,000 videos had appeared on the site by Monday, with several dozen expected to be selected by CNN producers for broadcast to candidates.

Postings ranged from the serious to the zany, on subjects as diverse as the Darfur crisis, healthcare costs in the United States, Iraq and China's rising economic might.

In one posting Monday, a woman from Boston showed herself undergoing treatment for a rare form of cancer and asked the candidates if they planned to pour more federal funds into research on the killer disease.

Another contributor, on vacation in Berlin, posed the question: "If you are elected president, will you still use YouTube?"

The mother of a soldier about to be deployed to Iraq asked, "how many more soldiers must die while these political games go on in our government?"

In a more lighthearted contribution, Sam Witherbee from New Hampshire attempted to surf a snowboard down a patch of grass and asked what candidates would do about global warming, tipped to cut snowfall in his state.

As candidates girded for the showdown, the fourth Democratic debate in a seemingly endless 2008 campaign, they digested a new poll showing Clinton cementing her lead.

Forty-five percent of Democrats surveyed in the poll for the Washington Post and ABC News said they would support her to be the party's presidential nominee, compared to 30 percent for Illinois Senator Obama and 12 percent for former senator Edwards.

The telephone poll was conducted from July 18 to 21 and included 1,125 people with a margin of error of three percent.

Averages of some opinion polls in states like Iowa and New Hampshire set to hold early nominating contests next year show a more complex position, with Clinton the strongest candidate but under a stronger challenge from her top rivals.

Ahead of Monday's debate, comparisons were being drawn to the moment when another new media -- television -- changed US politics forever.

In 1960, television viewers judged Democratic candidate John F. Kennedy as more zestful than his sweaty, stubbled Republican rival Richard Nixon. The rest is history.

With the increasingly important role being played by the Internet in the 2008 campaign, candidates are seeking any link with cyberspace to appeal to young voters who spend hours glued to sites like YouTube.

Already, 2008 candidates are adept at using YouTube-style videos to reach voters in new ways: Clinton launched her campaign in one, and Obama even posted short films of him having dinner with selected supporters.