Tuesday, November 27, 2007
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Live from St. Pete
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Posted by:
Patrick Ruffini at
11:16 PM
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Tomorrow morning, I'll be heading down to St. Petersburg for the Republican Party of Florida CNN/YouTube debate. I'll be blogging, vlogging, and Twittering throughout the event. After the debate, I plan to head into over to the spin room and hopefully catch a few words with the candidates and top staff, and turn the camera on the media types.
It's been four months since the big Save the Debate fight, but a lot has changed since then. With 36 days to go till Iowa, this is now one of the last big debates of the cycle and could easily serve as a turning point, rewarding the candidate who is quick on his feet and attuned to the new media environment. Had the candidates simply accepted the September 17th date, the "Internet debate" wouldn't have been anywhere near as crucial. Watch for this to be the most watched primary debate so far this cycle. Already, YouTube users have submitted more questions for the Republicans than for the much-hyped Democratic debate.
Four months ago, there was a real danger our candidates would get left permanently behind when it came to the dominant medium of the 21st century. The YouTube snub seemed to symbolize an indifference to competing with Democrats in a key strategic battleground.
Today, our candidates are getting it. Mike Huckabee is reinventing his campaign and surging in Iowa with help from his bloggers. Fred Thompson did get it for a while... until he sacked key new media savvy staffers like Mark Corallo and decided to run an uninspiring cookie cutter campaign. Mitt Romney crowdsourced admaking with results better than his traditional media team. And let's not forget rhymes-with-Pon-Raul.
Republicans meet in St. Pete at the cusp of real success online. I for one am hoping they all do well tomorrow night.
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