Are we really going to elect our next president based on who makes the funniest youtube video? That would seem a very poor indicator of a potential president's skill and fitness for office. Youtube provides an excellent venue for politicians to speak, but so far none of them, either left or right, is saying anything meaningful.

Sent by Jody Sol | 1:13 PM ET | 05-25-2007

Lighten up.

Sent by jc | 2:41 PM ET | 05-25-2007

Jody, of course not. But if you're looking to attract young people to your campaign, or get their votes, employing interactive content and knowing how to make a video for YouTube that young people will actually want to watch does matter. So far, Clinton, Obama and Richardson have shown they understand this dynamic. John McCain has been both helped and hurt by YouTube. Fred Thompson, although not a declared candidate yet for the GOP, has been using blogs in a way unfamiliar to most GOP candidates.

Sent by Tom Regan | 2:41 PM ET | 05-25-2007

I dont care if our President is funny. What we need is: a President with sound experience and judgment(domestic and foreign), a President committed to upholding the Constitution, a President who can ask us to sacrifice; a President who does the right thing (not what is politically feasible).

Sent by AK | 9:35 PM ET | 05-26-2007

"What we need is: a President with sound experience and judgment(domestic and foreign), a President committed to upholding the Constitution, a President who can ask us to sacrifice; a President who does the right thing (not what is politically feasible)." - Ron Paul is the only candidate that comes close to meeting those standards and he is totally ignored because of it. Even NPR fails to mention his substantial use of YouTube, because, of course, he will never win. Americans don't really want a President meeting those standards, they want someone to tell them what the want to hear.

Sent by Don Venardos | 11:20 AM ET | 05-27-2007

I think Tom is right. No, I'm not going to vote based on YouTube but I think its a great thing to see even politics can venture into the 21st Century. They know that this is a way to get peoples attention who normaly don't listen. I say lighten up...its a good thing. No one is aking you to vote based on this & if you do...well you are the idiot.

Sent by Devan H. | 11:54 AM ET | 05-27-2007

For Shame Mr. Olberman! You too have participated in the nearly complete mainstream media blackout of canidate Ron Paul. This is a man with new ideas who speaks plainly about the enourmous problems we have created for ourselves at home and abroad. He also won the polling after his first debate with other GOP contenders but then misteriously dropped off of the media's radar with little to no discussion of what he proposed and why his message was more compelling to the public than Romney's, McCain's, Guliani's, etc....

Sent by Lou Melo | 7:12 AM ET | 05-29-2007

The website TechPresident has been tracking how each of the candidates use social networking and content-sharing tools like YouTube. It includes stats on the amount of content they're producing for the Net, and how many Internet users are ID'ing candidates as contacts on each of the major social networks. Meanwhile, TechPresident's companion site, Personal Democracy Forum, has started a campaign to identify which candidates are prepared to be the first tech-savvy president, based on half a dozen technology policy issues, including bridging the digital divide, network neutrality and the role of tech in emergency preparedness.

Sent by andy carvin | 3:29 PM ET | 05-29-2007