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I'm a political junkie. Even though I'm not very mainstream politically--being a socialist and all--the drama of national politics keeps me watching like a housewife drawn to her soap operas. So, I've been following the lead up to the next Democratic debate tomorrow, sponsored by CNN and YouTube. For those who are unaware, the candidates will be responding to video questions uploaded to YouTube during the debate. It's a unique idea, and I'm actually quite interested to see how it works out.

All week CNN has had a feature concerning the "Debate Countdown," where they spend hours upon hours talking about what might happen at the debate, and airing questions submitted by users. Aside from the advertising subtly disguised as "news" (which is bothersome enough), the rhetoric which they are using is fascinating. They keep referring to the "YouTube generation" (TM?) as the target of these debates, a term as empty of content as it is of critical thought.

My generation, or rather the generation of which I am at the tail end, was slapped by the media with just such a label: we were "Generation X." As silly as this sounded, it caught on. We were labeled as a variable, unknown factor for which it took years to effectively advertise towards. It was of course finally accomplished, and since then there have been many different labels used in attempt to quantify the generation beginning only a few years junior to mine, including "Generation Y" (a term equally empty of signification), the "MTV generation," the "Beavis and Butthead generation"--and now the "YouTube generation." Why these labels are considered important, much less comprehensible, is beyond me.

John Roberts, an especially pleasant albeit sterile CNN correspondent, has been the one I have heard use the term most often. Consider the following lines from the VTR intro to "Debate Countdown":

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. And welcome to the YouTube debate countdown. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Roberts.

The clocks are ticking down. Get ready for democracy at lightspeed. [Ugh. The type of unimaginative turn of phrase I expect from my freshmen]

CHETRY: For the first time ever, we're turning over an entire presidential debate to you, the voters. [As opposed to what, exactly?]

ROBERTS (voice-over): It sure isn't your grandparents' debate. [Good. I was hoping that Eisenhower wasn't running posthumously.]

CHETRY (voice-over): Or even the MTV generation's debate. [huh? Distinction without a difference?]

ROBERTS: If you want to be president...

CHETRY: ... you better look out. [whatever the fuck that is supposed to mean]

ROBERTS: It's a brand-new generation, the YouTube generation. [Ah! Yes! Subtle branding plus advertising in one package!]

CHETRY: And they have some video questions that will make you think.

ROBERTS: Make you squirm.

CHETRY: Make you laugh out loud. [Is it wise to dumb-down Presential politics to the level of a reality show in order to garner interest?]

ROBERTS: A debate like never before. [Ah, uniqueness claims, a staple of advertising rhetoric.]

CHETRY: Want to know what voters really want to know? Just listen to their questions.

ROBERTS: Tonight, on the CNN/YouTube debate countdown.