Gather To Launch Extended US Presidential Debate

We here at Profy first profiled Gather.com – a social networking site geared to provide a meeting place of sorts (hence the title) for above-average intellectual discussion (as opposed to the mostly idiocratic MySpace and so forth) – in November of 2006. The following February we delved in a bit deeper, spotlighting the site’s establishment of Essentials, a selection of channels comprised of expert sources of information for books, music, health, money, and so on.

And in September, we brought you word of Gather’s launch of a political discussion forum, dubbed Election 2008, which has since grown to be a strong magnet for conversation. In fact, in just a few months, the chatter has grown to be so significant that it has led the site’s operators to arrange an online presidential debate with any candidates inclined to participate. So far, three contenders have signed on as willing to field network members’ questions: Christopher Dodd (D), Dennis Kucinich (D), and Ron Paul (Rep).

Though the present list lacks the biggest players in the race – apart from Ron Paul, who, however unlikely he is to last long past the new year, is quite an effective voice with the collegiate crowd in the US and one which many enjoy rallying around – the discussion to ensue, starting Monday, December 10th, is one which may well provoke a somewhat resounding impact. The debate’s success more or less hinges on the content of the conversation.

The debate will not be a short one. It will not be condensed into an hour’s time. Instead, Gather’s administrators have chosen to heed demand and extend the chitchat by several weeks.

Site members have so far submitted a wealth of questions, and Gather has chosen to put forward one per week for the candidates to answer. The organizers of the debate imagine that by providing such a lengthy window of opportunity, a good deal of back-and-forth will ensue. And they’re likely correct to presume so.

Never before have candidates been given the chance to formulate responses within spaces longer than, say, 30 seconds; it’ll be interesting to see how this experiment turns out. It’s certainly doubtful that Gather will amass an audience equal to that of the CNN-YouTube events held for the countries dominant parties thus far, but if company’s PR machine is in top shape, the debate’s reach may extend further than many might expect.

What do you expect from the Gather debate? Share your thoughts in the comments below.