The Web on the Candidates

• While we've been following the progress of CNN, YouTube, MTV, and MySpace, My Own Damn Channel has been quietly hosting their own debate, the Silent Debate. Today's debate pits John Edwards against Mike Huckabee with Tim Russert moderating. Apart from host Harry Shearer's introduction and goodbye, no one says a word. Its' a beautiful thing.
• TechPresident contributors David All and Dan Manatt are partnering up on a new video series they're calling NetCenter08. The first episode, a reaction to last week's CNN/YouTube debate, features slick editing chops from Dan, who runs PoliticsTV, and a good back-and-forth between the two. Good things are coming, let's hope they keep it up!
• Ron Paul supporters (should we still call them Paulites?) are planning their next "money bomb," following their first bomb on Nov. 5th that raised more than $4.3 million; for this Dec. 16th, the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. In preparation for that and the upcoming New Hampshire primary, there's a ton of activity from Paul supporters on the ground. The Washington Post's Jose Antonio Vargas caught up with Vijay Boyapati, the former Google engineer who's now running a ground operation in New Hampshire via his site OperationLiveFreeorDie. "It's a little freezing out here, I have to admit," Boyapati told Vargas. "But I feel very strongly about helping the campaign." Another campaign might absorb the efforts of Boyapati and his volunteer cohort, but, as with other online and offline volunteer efforts, Paul's campaign seems content with letting them conduct their own operation outside the boundaries of the campaign.

The Candidates on the Web

• Flying just under the radar of the online video revolution in politics has been its cousin, live video streaming. The Politico's Chris Snyder points out that the new-ish technology has been most embraced by lower-tier candidates, particularly Ron Paul and Chris Dodd. Paul gets his streaming on using Justin.tv, and Dodd has made good use of UStream.tv. It's a way to extend live events to viewers at home. "The more they feel a part of it, and the more excited they are, the more likely they are to give more time and more money," political analyst Larry Sabato told Snyder.
• NPR has tallied more than 1600 questions submitted online in advance of today's radio-only Democratic debate from Des Moines, which they're broadcasting live from 2-4pm, EST. They've posted them all here. Hopefully, they'll ask some of the more unusual ones, like "America's schools are now more segregated than they have been in decades. What is the federal government's role in addressing this issue?" and "Would you as president dismantle the office of faith based initiatives?"

In Case You Missed It...



Our intrepid reporter Josh Levy was up in New Hampshire for John McCain's appearance on the MTV/MySpace dialogue. You can catch up on what happened with his live blog, as well as this post-mortem.

Michael Connery gives his take on MTV/MySpace's latest effort, this time from the perspective of someone watching online. And he's impressed.

Dan Manatt reports this scoop: The Presidential Debates Commission has announced that this fall's TV debates will include questions submitted online. Now we're waiting the details...