YouTube brings in the Young Americans

What are the odds that a presidential hopeful will come to your dorm room? Slim. But possible.

During one of my random visits to YouTube I saw a thumbnail photo of a video clip with the headline: "Congressman Ron Paul Visits my Dorm Room." I was half expecting a college nerd (the kind who tells his friends to vote for him in the 2020 election after he nabs the partner status at a law firm and the blonde Leave-it-to-Beaver wife), shabbily dress as Ron Paul and giving a mock interview to his roommate who happens to own a webcam.

On the contrary! My click lead to a sharply dress college student named James who spoke as if he watched one-too-many Situation Rooms, but who spoke with authority about the upcoming election. Suddenly, there was Ron Paul sitting on his left--looking a little awkward with your standard dorm room fixtures in the background but on the whole eager to talk about himself, his foreign policy stance and his 'libertarian' views about the Internet.

The video was only 4 minutes long--the entire 30-minute interview can be found on Jame's YouTube profile--but as the novice interviewer shook hands with Congressman Paul, I felt so giddy inside. Imagine! Presidential hopefuls making stops at college dorm rooms to take the time to shoot the shit with one of their most important pool of voters: young Americans.

When it comes to the elections young voters are an often overlooked minority. P-Diddy told us to Vote or Die on those MTV commercials. And over the summer, YouTube hosted a live debate with the Democratic candidates where not only were video questions humorous and creative but they were from a variety of young voters. But on the whole coverage of young voters is very similar to that of minorities--hyped up during major events but come the closing of the polls, there's not much talk of young voters.

So like minority coverage in the media, when it comes to young voters there can be good press and bad press. Good press could mean coverage that highlights young voters in a new light--one omitting Mp3 players, weed, skateboarders, mini skirts, and bleached blonde highlights. Good press could actually probe something like Facebook to find out what young voters are curious about. Today, a Facebook profile can dawn widgets regarding Breast Cancer research, Darfur, Burma, Bono's ONE.org anti-poverty organization.