By Peggy Tartaro,
Executive Editor

When last the centuries turned, someone suggested we refer to this decade as The Aughties-as in thirty-aught-seven.

As far as I can tell, it never caught on. Decade-naming itself seems to have gone out of fashion, replaced with (blank) Nation as era defining.

Lately we've been "YouTube Nation," in reference to the popular online video-file sharing website. I say "popular" because apparently it is. My own experience with it has been watching the link to a friend's great nephew's antics and a 5-minute short about a couple in South Africa who keep a hippopotamus for a pet, complete with living room privileges.

But I'm a firm believer in at least knowing something about whatever it is everyone else is talking about, so I try to keep up with these things.

I watched with some trepidation, the YouTube-CNN Democratic Party Presidential Debate. My unease had less to do with the format than the fact that I (who actually like this kind of inside-baseball, way-too-early-for-everyone stuff) was watching a presidential debate in June. Of the year before the presidential debate.

By the time the main event rolls around, barring any late, dark horse entries, we will know just about everything possible to know about another human being about the candidates. That we will be good and sick of them and the process itself is too bad, but I guess the price to be paid for living in Information Nation.

Anyway, there was quite a bit of hoo-ha after this particular debate (as opposed to the almost resounding silence that greeted the prior ones) because of the YouTube aspects.

Any old Joe or Jill, who knew how to use YouTube, could submit a question as long as it was 30-seconds long or shorter. YouTube and CNN folks went through the hundreds submitted and used the ones they wanted, so it wasn't a direct People-to-Politician link, but closer than the "Town Hall" format and certainly closer than the talking head grilling format.

Much was made about two of the questions, the first from someone wearing a snowman get-up and asking about global warming.
Everyone, from the audience at The Citadel, to host Anderson Cooper to the contestants, uh, I mean, candidates had a good laugh at the snowman guy. But then the candidates got down to seriously answering the question.

Good for the snowman! Global warming was his big issue and he figured a lot of people would ask similar questions, but knew enough about YouTube and TV executives to know that he needed to stand out to get his particular question answered.

After the debate, the snowman became something of the focus of the punditry, with professional talking and writing heads sniffing about how undignified it all was.

Not many in mainstream media mentioned how one of the other questioners was treated.

That would be Gun Guy who, cradling his rifle, asked what the candidates would do to protect his "baby."

The question fell to Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, a man who has literally been running for president since before Al Gore invented the Internet. He ran in 1988 until he fell afoul of then-new technology-C-SPAN-which captured him, almost word for word, cribbing a speech from a British politician.

Never one to learn a lesson, Biden got a laugh from the audience when he exploded that Gun Guy was "crazy," and should seek professional help.

But to anyone paying attention, Biden's response was more than a little telling. And I don't mean just to gunowners who have been watching the Democrats tip-toe around most of the gun debate since the 1994 mid-term sweep of Congress by the Republicans.
Sure, ask us about health care from your bathroom, or have your cute toddler pose an inquiry about Social Security. Heck, you can even dress up as a snowman so that we can recite our prepared platform on global warming.

But stray outside our comfort zone and ask us a question about something we've been avoiding for the past 12 years, and we'll send out one of the "second tier" (i.e. not much hope for Secretary of Commerce, let alone Vice President), to slap you down-and we'll all have a good laugh about it.

Would I have preferred if Gun Guy had been DC Lady instead, who asked, standing in front of one of the Capitol's many monuments, "I get that you're not crazy about 'bear arms,' but since I live in the District, I was wondering why you've stood by and let us not even 'keep arms' for the last 30 years?" Sure.

But, even a tiny glimpse of what the candidates really think about YouTube Nation-and by extension, all of us, is useful.

Peggy Tartaro

Photo © Copyright 1998 Nancy Floyd, used with permission.