YouTube Debate

I'm impressed. I think we have a really good field of candidates this time around (I am not taking Mike Gravel and Dennis Kucinich seriously) and would gladly support any of them if they got the nomination. There was little-to-no kicking around of the Democratic party and they all offered significant contrasts to the Republican party.

I really liked the YouTube format too. It was great to see earnest questions coming from real people, as opposed to the "Gotcha!" type we've come to expect from the press. Some of the videos, like the snowman one, were warm, positive and funny. I also thought Anderson Cooper did a good job of moderating. He kept things moving at a brisk pace in order to air as many questions as possible, and although he did not give certain candidates as much time, he did not let any of them meander about.

While watching the candidates' ads, it occurred to me that part of what separates the top tier from the rest is their ads. The top tier are running funny, engaging and catchy ads, while the rest are running more traditional, on-the-issues ads that are not that gripping.