The YouTube Debate Returns

Election politics found a home on the web in this year's presidential primaries.

Users submitted questions for the Democratic and Republican contenders on the popular video-sharing site, and the candidates answered them on a live television debate. MTV created its own web-fueled political forum, in a series of live dialogues with the candidates broadcast on TV and through the web via MySpace. Whether it was a revolution or a gimmick depends on your perspective.

Now that the primaries are nearly over, we will see the return of the net debate in the form of the YouTube-Google presidential forum. Novelty or not, this new venue may have lasting effects on the institution of televised debates.