I've been thinking about this ever since YouTube user FB1BB1BB1 wrote, "Russians don't vote in America. You need to talk to Putin about your own problems" in response to a video question taped by a talented group of international students. To their credit, the students responded with insightful commentary on why it is not only legitimate, but important, to allow foreigners to participate in the American political process.

This exchange provides a window into how YouTubeification of presidential campaigns may shake up the political landscape in intriguing ways. More sustained focus on the art of questioning, coupled with the diffusion of communication technology that enables everyday persons far and wide to tape and upload video, might even introduce new wrinkles into the contemporary democratic process.

For example, even before tonight's debate, we know that YouTubeification has shaped debate preparation strategies in campaign war rooms. Even those questions not ultimately selected for inclusion in the debate have had an impact in getting campaign strategists and candidates to think in different registers, outside the box of shopworn mainstream media themes. In recent news cycles, CNN reporters are also relying heavily on submitted videos as news pegs for stories in the debate runup. My guess is that as a result of this, some of the questions have also filtered into American backyard barbecue banter. In an America where political talk is often considered impolite in such settings, discussion of clever citizen questions could provide starting points for conversations that would have never gotten off the ground.

The competitive nature of the CNN YouTube screening process has also stimulated reflection on the art of question asking, with waves of more meta-talk on the horizon. Given the volume of YouTube videos submitted, it is virtually certain that Grove and colleagues will come under fire for including some videos and excluding others. So far, the media professionals have played their cards close to the vest, being stingy with details on criteria used to select questions for fear of tipping off the campaigns and draining spontaneity from the event. That may change after the debate, when the questions themselves become the focus of news analysis and reporters face pressure to generate fresh content.

A lively national conversation about what makes a good question could be a shot in the arm for American democracy, which has been hamstrung recently by what political scientists call "discourse failure," a breakdown of political comprehension and imagination triggered by structural distortions that make free and open vetting of wide-ranging political opinions difficult.