Was the YouTube Debate the Debate for Young Voters?

Did you catch the CNN/YouTube Democratic Presidential Debates Monday night? We sure hope you did, because a good portion of the media coverage has been emphasizing that this was the debate where young voters finally were heard. This debate, held in Charleston, South Carolina was a bit more nontraditional, for the questions were asked not by a famous news personality, but rather by average Americans who submitted their queries over the popular video website YouTube (though the debate was moderated by CNN's Anderson Cooper). Though many newspapers and blogs posted varied opinions about the candidates' performances or the technology used in the debate are undoubtedly varied, many of the articles agreed that young voters had a disproportionate role in the debates:

• The Associated Press reported that the submitted questions "were blunt and earnest, yet sometimes bizarre...[with] most of them coming from young people."
• The Boston Globe commented that "the unusual forum allowed many Americans access to the political process, since questioners did not need to travel to the debate site to ask questions. Further, the Internet-age nature of the debate was appealing to young voters, a growing political force which has been active in online political activity but less likely than older voters to watch formal debates."
• The American Prospect hypothesized what makes this debate seem so different. Answer: "the people asking the questions. Maybe because only people under 30 can operate a webcam, the men and women addressing the candidates here have a very different set of priorities. A lesbian couple from Brooklyn asks if they should be allowed to get married. A young black man demands that the candidates reveal if they support reparations for slavery. A student wonders if 18-year old women should be required to register for the draft."
• The Baltimore Sun goes as far to call those aged 18-28 "the YouTube generation," and jabs that it is them "who spend hours in front of their computers every day - and are less likely to vote than older Americans."
• The Bayou Buzz claims the popularity of the debates to be evidence "that the youth are plugged into the presidential election like never before."
• And Rush Limbaugh speculates that the Democratic Party was eager to work with YouTube since it will encourage young voter turnout on Election Day.
  

In case you didn't catch the debate, watch the questions again on YouTube, and then log on to the New York Times or CNN to view the candidates' answers. In either case, do you think that this debate (along with the upcoming CNN/YouTube Republican Presidential Debate in September) adequately addresses youth issues?