The YouTube Debate Story Gets Legs

In a recent post, I wrote that the YouTube debate format – which allows actual voters to asks questions in ways that stress their emotional content - demands that candidates hear the story inside the questions. The candidates who do this will be the ones that win not only those debates, but other increasingly web connected elections.  Don’t believe the web-connected part? Look at the fund raising figures. There is a tremendous opportunity here to make empathetic contact with the voter, to become the hero of their story. This isn’t a massive paradigm shift (good politicians instinctively listen for the voter’s story), but it is a big enough change to suggest shifts in campaign communications strategy. The GOP seems to be shifting itself right off the playing field with Guilliani and Romney leading the rush to the showers. Both announced that they have “scheduling conflicts” and won’t be able to participate in the planned CNN-YouTube GOP debate. Check out Steve Benen’s work at Talking Points Memo (great website BTW –where I spend my morning coffee) to find out what they are afraid of, and click on the link to a video by the Firefighters showing how they feel about Guillaini. That video, and a few others linked to the site make it clear the GOP YouTube problem might be substantial.