Does this make the Internet’s influence on politics official? Today it was announced that Yahoo and Slate will be joining The Huffington Post to host the first two online-only debates for the 2008 presidential candidates. Both will be in the fall and there will be one for each party. Charlie Rose will moderate.
Candidates will participate online via streaming video and questions will be submitted from the public over the internet. No word yet on who will participate.
So, have we reached the utopian vision of democracy described by the founding fathers? Or is this just another gimmick to grab attention in the over-saturated media. I’d like to think that this is more of the former, but really it’s more of the latter.
The campaigning for this year’s election has already gotten out of hand, with candidates announcing their runs extremely early using all the latest technological bells and whistles. This is just another way to keep the candidates, and the election (as well as the outlets sponsoring the debate) in the media spotlight.
Maybe by taking advantage of the internet’s interactivity these debates will attract more young voters and encourage them to engage in the political process. That’s my hope–but only time will tell.
