Pure Horserace: YouTube — Hit Or Hype?

Presidential candidates have long strived to connect with the "hip" trends in American culture. In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was urged by an 11-year old girl in New York to grow whiskers in advance of that year's election because women liked the look. When he arrived at the White House, the newly elected president sported the now-familiar beard for the very first time. In 1992, Bill Clinton donned shades and played the saxophone on the then-popular "Arsenio Hall" show and, as president, discussed his choice in undergarments during an MTV appearance.

This time around, of course, YouTube has taken off as the hot new thing and tonight, eight Democratic candidates for president will be in South Carolina to spend two hours answering questions submitted to the video-sharing site. The debate, co-sponsored by YouTube and CNN, will certainly be a first — but it's likely to resemble those town-hall style forums that have become such a staple of modern politics rather than a dramatic new form of civic discourse.

Debate sponsors have been soliciting video questions for some time now and, as of this writing, almost 3,000 submissions were available to view on YouTube. That number is slightly less than it seems because some who have uploaded videos to the site appear to have done so multiple times. Whether the final number of submissions lives up to expectations will certainly be discussed in the coming days but there is plenty of material to work with for tonight's event.

As you might expect from YouTube users, there are some unique approaches to this interaction. Some use animation to ask serious questions, others use serious faces to ask amusing ones, like, "How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?" Don't hold your breath waiting to see any of those making the cut tonight; the questions used will be selected by CNN editors.

Still, there are some compelling questions to be found in a stroll through the submissions and some clear areas of concern among this particular audience. Health care comes up often, as does the issue of climate change, the war in Iraq, education and concerns about international relations. But there are some unique concerns among this group on issues that don't pop up in most public opinion polling as well.

We found multiple questions about "net neutrality" and the regulation of the Internet, not surprising considering the audience of those who would participate in this process. Religion and its appropriate role in politics seems to be one of the more dominant recurring topics. There are some funny and entertaining clips in the mix, as some seem to see this as an audition for "America's Got Talent" rather than a political debate. There are also a few sprinkled about that appear designed to put the candidates on the defensive.

While many of the submissions are from young people — some clearly not of voting age — the demographic skews older than might be expected. And there are some unexpected cameos. Jerry Brown, who once made 1-800 numbers a cutting-edge part of campaigning in his run for the White House, has submitted a question asking for proposals to cut emissions. Questions about aliens from outer space and blood donations, however, are probably not going to make the cut.

Republican candidates, who will participate in the same process in September, may have the advantage in going second with the format because they'll get to see how it plays out first — including potential pitfalls. For those candidates who think these may be softball questions, there are some we saw that are tougher than they would get from most journalists. Like this one about a burning issue of the day to Hillary Clinton: "What will you do to help change the mindset of today's young women so that in 20 years we don't have a nation of Paris Hiltons?" — Vaughn Ververs


Signs, Signs ... Mitt Romney isn't campaigning in South Carolina today, but a sign seen at a campaign event there last week has managed to follow him around. While visiting the Palmetto State, Romney posed with a supporter holding a sign that read "No to Obama, Osama and Chelsea's Moma." The photos — one of which shows Romney holding the sign — managed to find their way to celebrity-gossip site TMZ.com and have spread across the Internet.

A Romney spokesman originally dismissed the sign as "playful alliteration." But Romney, at a Sunday event in Exeter, N.H., addressed his posing with the sign when asked about it by a Democratic activist who attended one of his town-hall meetings. "I don't really spend all that much time looking at the signs and the T-shirts and the buttons," he said. "I don't have anything to say about a sign somebody else was holding."

Given that there's proof of Romney holding the sign, it's hard to say whether his excuse will hold water — it's not clear if he even looked at what he was holding, and the photos don't offer much in terms of context. While damaging to a campaign known for its discipline, it's probably not a "macaca moment." But Romney's aides might want to keep a closer eye on what his supporters are bringing into future events. — David Miller


Ames Rising? Meanwhile, Romney tried to throw a little cold water on his expectations for the Iowa straw poll coming up in less than a month. Since Rudy Giuliani and John McCain announced their intentions to basically skip active participation in the event, Romney has been viewed as the overwhelming favorite to carry the day on Aug. 18 in Ames, Iowa.

Stumping in the state this weekend, however, Romney said his campaign had cut back on efforts for the event. "We've pulled back the level of investment financially that we're making," Romney told reporters.

The Des Moines Register reports Romney also sought to highlight Sam Brownback's past support for an immigration reform proposal that included a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants already in the country — a touchy issue among Iowa Republicans and a sign that Brownback may be gaining in Iowa. — Vaughn Ververs


Rudy's Radio Days: Rudy Giuliani has done little to dispute his reputation as the "national security candidate" in the presidential race. References to terrorism and his actions on and after Sept. 11, 2001 pepper many of his speeches. But in a new radio ad campaign, Giuliani is emphasizing another trait: his fiscal conservatism.

The three ads all focus on Giuliani's tenure as New York City mayor. He discusses cutting the city's welfare rolls, reducing its crime rate, cutting spending and lowering taxes. "I was given a report, shortly after I was Mayor-Elect, and the report was all of the things that should be done to take New York City out of the deficit," Giuliani says in one ad. "The biggest ones were raise taxes. They asked me what I was going to do with the report, and I said I'm going to throw it in the garbage. It doesn't make any sense."

So far, none of the other GOP hopefuls have succeeded in outdoing Giuliani when it comes to national security and terrorism, but he doesn't have much of a chance of topping the field when it comes to social issues. This leaves fiscal conservatives as one of the most up-for-grabs groups that make up the Republican electorate — and it looks like Giuliani is trying to win them over. — David Miller


Editor's note: Pure Horserace is a daily update of political news as interpreted by the political observers at CBSNews.com. Click here to sign up for the e-mail version.

By Vaughn Ververs and David Miller