It was announced in late April that Huffington Post, Yahoo! and Slate Magazine would be hosting one Democratic and one Republican debate for the Presidential hopefuls. The debates were proposed to take place after Labor Day and hosted by Charlie Rose. Arianna Huffington stated that the 2008 campaign was going to be determined by what happens online since new technologies and new media are taking over like never before.
According to USA Election Polls, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are leaders in the Democratic race while the Republican race is up in the air with several candidates vying for top tier status such as Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, and Ron Paul.
In fact on July 23, 2007 there was a debate between the Democratic presidential candidates hosted by CNN and YouTube with the questions taken from videos submitted by YouTube viewers. The debate occurred in Charleston, South Carolina at The Citadel. From 3,000 submissions that YouTube received there were 39 questions asked during the debate.
The candidates were asked a variety of questions. In the end most observers stated that none of the candidates debating outshone any of their rivals, which did nothing to challenge Hillary Clinton’s position as the front runner of the Democratic race. A similar debate for the Republican candidates is scheduled for September 17, 2007 in Florida, but it has been rescheduled to November 28, 2007 in St. Petersburg at the Mahaffey Theatre.
The Internet has also become a platform for an ongoing question and answer process for voters to ask and answers questions that presidential candidates and US voters post on Yahoo! Answers. Through the use of YouTube, MySpace and Facebook many presidential candidates are trying to connect with younger voters. The Internet is a popular method used by Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Barack Obama.
For poll results updated daily,
http://www.usaelectionpolls.com
