The Web on the Candidates

California Rep. George Miller is back with the second installment of his Ask George series, in which citizens can use video, blogs, SMS, or Twitter to ask Miller about the Iraq war. The submissions are aggregated at Community Counts, where participants can vote for the best questions. Miller then answers the most popular questions in his videos. In the new video, Miller responds to questions raised on a blog created by residents in his congressional district in California. Even though it's not produced by a presidential candidate, we continue to report on this project because it offers an example of how -- with a little ingenuity and desire -- politicians can use all corners of the web to engage voters.

Yesterday, NPR's Talk of the Nation covered the upcoming YouTube/CNN debate and the role of the Internet in the election. Listen in CNN executive producer David Bohrman, MIT's Henry Jenkins, and yours truly for a discussion about how to include the YouTube community in the debates and how the web is impacting the election.

The Web on the Candidates

More details have emerged about a MySpace-based reality show in development called "Independent." Developed with cooperation from Mark Burnett, whose resume includes "Survivor" and "The Apprentice," the show will capitalize on the ongoing political activity on MySpace by giving users a chance to select a "candidate" -- a regular Jill or Joe, not a current candidate -- who they think will best represent them. The winner will receive $1 million, which they can give to a candidate or a PAC or use to fund their own real run for president. Jeff Berman, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs for MySpace, sees the show trying to replicate a mythical America that ensures equality for all. "One of the most amazing things about MySpace is it's a completely neutral platform. No matter how rich you are, where you come from, or what you believe in, if you have a compelling message and you deliver it well, you have a chance to find an audience. We think it's a great thing for the political process and a great thing for America," he says.

The Candidates on the Web

Two weeks ago we wrote about a new project from California Rep. George Miller called "Ask George," which will allow voters to ask Miller questions about the Iraq war using just about every technology available; they can post videos, write blog posts, participate in Facebook groups, send a text message, use Twitter, or even write an email to Miller, being sure to tag or label the questions with "Ask George." All of the submitted questions will be aggregated at Community Counts, the site run by David Colarusso that also aggregates YouTube Spotlight videos and submissions for the upcoming YouTube/CNN debate. As we've written before, this is an innovative idea, and one of the first by a national politician to truly leverage the underlying architecture of the web. Miller's team is still putting the finishing touches on the project, but check out Miller's first video response to submitted questions; it's refreshingly honest and direct. We believe this is the first time a U.S. politician has used SMS and Twitter for pull instead of push messaging, meaning that instead of spamming supporters with messages, supporters send messages to the pol. Also, go to the Community Counts page to see what they're up to. Again, this is something the presidential candidates need to be doing. Also: check out Community Counts' Town Hall, where Colarusso et al. ask other politicians to participate in similar "Virtual Townhalls."