Everything And Nothing

Yahoo to stream first Web-only presidential debate

Yahoo, in conjunction with the Web publications Slate and the Huffington Post, said it would host the first Web-only U.S. presidential debate. Set for Sept. 12, the event will feature all eight of the Democratic Presidential candidates and will be Webcast across each of the partners' sites.

As with the CNN/YouTube debate, which was broadcast on CNN in addition to appearing on YouTube, Web users will submit video questions via the Web. As a Web-only event, it will be longer than the YouTube debate. Users also have the ability to slice and dice the online broadcast - they could watch only Hilary Clinton or questions about health care, for instance. Questions will be taken in real-time. Charlie Rose of PBS will host the debate.

For the full story, click here.

The Tuning of a Fart

If today's politicians feel that they are too often the targets of the slings and arrows of constituents, they should be glad they didn't hold office in early-17th-century England. In that era, members of Parliament, courtiers, and even the king himself came in for abuse at the hands of anonymous commentators who expressed their sentiments in pointed, frequently rude poems known as libels.

Beyond Red vs. Blue

Republicans are divided about the role of government. Democrats are divided by social and personal values. For the full survey and report, click here. (You can also find out where you fit in on the spectrum here.)

Disparate Coalitions Now Make Up Two Parties, Study Finds

In describing the new shape of the electorate, a recent Pew study shows how far the country has moved from the days when income and education were the most useful barometers in predicting a person's party identification. Both parties now are coalitions of the wealthy and not-so-wealthy, and of well-educated and less-educated voters.

Poll Cites GOP Gains Since 9/11

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, helped redraw the political landscape in America, giving President Bush and the Republicans an advantage over the Democrats, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. But Republicans may have difficulty consolidating the gains because of divisions within their expanded coalition.

Both parties enjoy strong support among their core voters, but the Pew study concluded that Republicans have done a more effective job in attracting support among voters with less allegiance to either party. Bush's campaign attracted support in the middle from well-educated, upbeat voters as well as those who are more down-scale and pessimistic about their own situation.