YouTube has quietly become one of the best ways to find information on presidential candidates. A channel, YouChoose 08, has been setup to feature "official" videos uploaded by the campaigns, and the campaigns have by and large done well in embracing this opportunity by uploading speeches and debate clips and...commercials (but at least not everything is a commercial!). YouChoose 08 is a good starting point, but it is simply the tip of the iceberg...there's a lot more political content to be found on YouTube. A search on virtually any candidate's name will reveal even more speeches, debate clips, and commercials, but these will not necessarily be biased in favor of the candidate they feature. Indeed, they may be designed to discredit a candidate, as is this video entitled "Joe Biden's Racist Slip." Additionally, YouTube provides an outlet for people to comment on the candidates, which they may do both in video form or as text comments to existing videos. The greatest thing about YouTube is that viewers have total control over what videos they watch -- they don't have to put up with the Internet equivalent of sleazy attack ads if they don't want to, and they have the freedom to gravitate towards candidates' speeches in front of small audiences rather than to the candidates' more polished debate performances designed for a national audience. From a "learning politics" point of view, YouTube plays an important role in archiving political video for future study and review. I might miss what a candidate says on C-SPAN or "Meet the Press", but if that candidate's words make a strong impression on just one person it might be uploaded to YouTube where I can view it at my leisure.
In the long run, sites like YouTube may bring more personal accountability to politics. This large archive of video will make it possible for any Internet user to "go back in time" and see how candidates' positions and attitudes have changed over time. It is easier to accept a candidate's flip-flopping if you cannot watch hours of video of that candidate endorsing at various times both sides of an issue! Eventually, candidates may attempt to suppress unfavorable videos that have been posted online, but I have confidence that the Internet is vibrant enough to resist those attempts.
There will be a very interesting debate on July 23d in South Carolina which will be a collaboration between old and new media. CNN will broadcast the debate among Democratic presidential candidates and provide a host for the debate; the questions, however, will come from YouTube. Questions asked by an audience are not necessarily more interesting than questions asked by a host, especially if the audience questions are filtered so only "safe" ones are allowed, but I like that this setup allows anyone from anywhere to get the chance to ask the candidates a question. It's a chance for an individual to interact directly with the candidates in front of the entire country, even if they are not physically in the same place as the candidates. I'll be watching this debate with interest. If you think you might be interested in asking one of the candidates a question, go to http://www.youtube.com/debates#utm_campaign=en.
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