ALEX COHEN, host:
This is DAY TO DAY. Coming up: How to fix the giant flat tire that cycling's Tour de France has become. I'm Alex Cohen.
ALEX CHADWICK, host:
I'm Alex Chadwick.
First, YouTube and CNN blow up the old debate format. And already some cranky critics are asking, what's new? Slate's chief political correspondent John Dickerson has posted an analysis at Slate.com. He's back with us from Washington.
John, here is a line from your piece: The highly hyped experiment in user-generated content worked. Well, what worked?
Mr. JOHN DICKERSON (Chief Political Correspondent, Slate.com): What happened was people, when they had the ability to tape themselves in the comfort of their own environment, they spoke like regular human beings. And debates are so full of artifice and fakery that it was nice to have some genuine voices at least from the voters in there.
CHADWICK: Yeah. And what did you see from the candidates that struck you? How do you think they responded to this really new kind of experience to see?
Mr. DICKERSON: They were a little bit more engaged with the voters themselves, as opposed to, you know, they felt compelled to at least answer the voters' questions, which is something you would always hope they would try to do.
CHADWICK: But you do write that there were revealing moments, and others are writing the same. Here's especially one. Here's a question. We've edited this question and the answers for time, but here we go.
Unidentified Man #1: Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries?
Mr. ANDERSON COOPER (CNN/YouTube debate moderator): Senator Obama?
Senator BARACK OBAMA (Democrat, Illinois; Democratic Presidential Candidate): I would. And the reason is this: that the notion that somehow not talking to countries is punishment to them, which has been the guiding diplomatic principle of this administration, is ridiculous.
Mr. COOPER: Senator Clinton?
Senator HILLARY CLINTON (Democrat, New York; Democratic Presidential Candidate): Well, I will not promise to meet with the leaders of these countries during my first year. I will promise a very vigorous, diplomatic effort. Because I think it is not that you promise the meeting at that high a level before you know what the intentions are. I don't want to be used for propaganda purposes.
CHADWICK: And we picked that clip, John, because you write about it in your piece.
Mr. DICKERSON: What was interesting about it to me is that Obama and Clinton would probably do the same thing. What we saw there, though, was Hillary Clinton making a tactical move and essentially trying to make a play for her experience. As these two top of the ticket or top of the poll's candidates battle with each other, this is one of the ways in which they'll be fighting over this question of who has the temperament and judgment in dealing with these difficult questions.
CHADWICK: Here's another. This is from a man who is sitting in what appears to be his living room. He gestures to three-folded flags behind him. They had draped the coffins of his grandfather, father and eldest son. Here he goes.
(Soundbite of CNN/YouTube debate clip)
Unidentified Man #2: By what date after January 21, 2009 will all U.S. troops be out of Iraq?
Mr. COOPER: Governor Richardson?
Governor BILL RICHARDSON (New Mexico; Democratic Presidential Candidate): I'm trying to provoke a debate here because there's a difference between the senators and me on when we get our troops out. I've been very clear - six months but no residual forces.
Mr. COOPER: Senator Clinton.
(Soundbite of applause)
Sen. CLINTON: You know, I've put forth a comprehensive three-point plan to get our troops out of Iraq, and it does start with moving them out as soon as possible. You know, I have done extensive work on this and the best estimate is that we can probably move a brigade a month; if we really accelerate it, maybe a brigade and a half or two a month. That is a lot of months.
CHADWICK: Is it fair that Senator Clinton last night sounded closer to the Bush administration on Iraq than any other Democrat?
Mr. DICKERSON: Well, any other Democrat, I guess, on stage. I think they are all so far from the Bush administration. She may be the closest, but it's still quite a long way from the Bush administration.
CHADWICK: John Dickerson, what do the political types take away from watching this?
Mr. DICKERSON: There's a lot of hype about the new Internet revolution and interactivity and all of the ways campaigns can use it. But I think what the political class will learn from this, and which they've been learning as this campaign has gone forward, is that there are ways to package the message and to talk to real people that's authentic, that's not staged and phony. And we saw some of that in the questions last night. But we also saw it in some of the little YouTube-style videos that the campaigns themselves put together.
CHADWICK: I've read comment this morning that I sort of sensed last night myself - the questions seemed more memorable than the answers.
Mr. DICKERSON: I think that's right, but it at least engaged the candidates and the questioners, who are ultimately the voters they have to impress. They got them a little closer together. And so I think in that way the debate may last a little bit longer than some of the other debates we've had, which we've now all forgotten even though they were just a month or so ago.
CHADWICK: John Dickerson, chief political correspondent for the online magazine Slate.com. John, thank you.
Mr. DICKERSON: Thank you, Alex.
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