Arianna Huffington, one of the 2006 stars of political blogging through her Huffington Post site wants to organize a debate between the Democrats and Republicans Presidential candidates online. I looked around for a link to a specific post on that and didn’t see one to quote directly so just gave you the main URL. Perhaps there is no story on the site yet, as the article below does say they are “working” on it. I don’t see this working very well. It won’t scale. Yet.

“2008 is going to be critical in terms of the coverage of the election,” Huffington said. “We are working to put together the first primary online debate among candidates and working out the logistics of how this is going to happen.”

I’ve been thinking about the reality of a debate online. A single large chatroom wouldn’t work. There exists no global chat software I’m aware of that’s been used for large attendance public events. Those who have been to an IRC event with more than a couple hundred people know how well that goes. Second Life? You’re joking, right? About the best hope for any sort of huge scaling interactive debate would be text messaging like they do on American Idol or perhaps email questions. These questions would still need to be vetted somehow. Unfortunately, any sort of non-moderated internet event is open to widescale abuse.

I think it’s a worthwhile idea to have some sort of TV to internet streaming but technology doesn’t yet have an answer to a true, interactive online component that scales. As far as myself having a chance of asking the 2008 Presidential candidates any questions and receiving direct responses? My best bet is probably doing it right here on this blog and hoping that somebody in the candidate’s camp replies or if I’m lucky to attend a geek event where a candidate is attending maybe getting some brief face time there. Or maybe the Google brains will be able to solve this problem so people like you and I can visit some live event online and feel like more than just another audience member listening.

Frankly, I’m tired of the political campaign game that has had little change over my voting life and would like to see something where the common voter has more direct input. Yes, I do realize our votes are our ultimate input, but I mean in terms of Q&A phases with candidates directly. How about some back and forth public blog commentary? With any luck in my life technology will overcome this barrier somehow. Yes, I realize it is impossible for one candidate to hold a personal dialogue with each and every voter, but there are public events where large numbers of people can attend like at football stadiums where there still isn’t an online equivalent. Heck, you can go to a concert with 150,000 people in attendance and be as close to the stage of the artist and slap their hand, but is that possible online? Not with current technology.

Blogs, podcasts and videoblogs have helped bridge some of this interactivity on a larger scale gap. They have made individuals like me feel a little more like my voice might or could be heard and answered. Leaving issues on subjects aside for a moment, candidates who embrace technology and give me the ability to reach them and ask direct questions and provide direct answers are admittedly more attractive than those who have some overpolished web site run by supporters. What do you think?

Is money the cure or disease?
Then there is the issue of money. In the current system if I was donating a lot of money I could get the access I’m talking about and that’s another part of the problem. The people with the most money, power and influence aren’t always the people with the best questions. All too often they use that money to leverage their own interests and agenda and do not speak for the masses.

Scoble, who was recently granted some limited access to the Edwards campaign, commented here recently that we wouldn’t get this type of access. That’s the problem for me. The people who would give me and other citizens that type of access I don’t believe will be viable candidates in 2008. In 2012 or 2016, who knows? Google, Google, do, where are you?

We can always dream. Answers? Solutions?

• Debate voting mashup
• Vote for the 2008 Presidential candidate with the best logo
• Another post with ‘another’ in the title, this one on hiring
• Google Press Day executive questions
• Burning in the Google toaster
• Tech conferences should stay as non-partisan as possible