It's Official Because CNN Says It Is: All Major GOP Candidates Onboard for YouTube Debate

We had the story Saturday, but CNN just issued a press release confirming that all the major GOP candidates will show up for this newfangled debate organized with the video file sharing Web site you Tube on Nov. 28 in St. Petersburg.

Pundits still seem to be divided over whether this is a new way of querying Presidential candidates or yet another gimmicky grab at attention during an election year. I think it's a bit of both, which makes it irresistible for those of us who are political and media junkies.

The St. Petersburg Times has already begun collecting questions from folks for possible airing during the show; we had cameras at the Festival of Reading Saturday, and there's more opportunities:

Thursday:6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., YMCA, 3200 First Ave. S, St. Petersburg

Nov. 7: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., University of Tampa, student commons

Nov. 17 and 24: 3 to 5 p.m., Times booth at BayWalk

Or, if you want to film and submit a question yourself, go to www.youtube.com/debates for instructions.

Here's the release:

All Major Republican Candidates Confirmed for First-Ever CNN/YouTube/Republican Party of Florida Debate

CNN, YouTube and the Republican Party of Florida today announced that the eight major Republican candidates running for president – Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Rep. Duncan Hunter, Sen. John McCain, Rep. Ron Paul, Gov. Mitt Romney, Rep. Tom Tancredo and Sen. Fred Thompson – will participate in their first-of-its-kind Republican primary debate scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 28, at the Mahaffey Theatre in St. Petersburg, Fla. CNN’s Anderson Cooper will moderate this program designed to allow voters, no matter where they live, ask questions of the candidates for this country’s highest office.

CNN also announced that the ground-breaking program will broadcast live from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. (ET) on CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español, CNN Airport Network and CNN Radio and stream live on CNN.com, ensuring that people around the country and the world can watch these candidates’ answers to lively and thoughtful questions coming exclusively from their fellow citizens via video.

Like the Democratic CNN/YouTube/South Carolina Democratic Party debate, this innovative, live forum will feature video questions submitted to YouTube that will be broadcast and answered by the candidates on CNN.  Over 2,225 questions have been submitted thus far; online users are able to submit their video queries through Sunday, Nov. 25 at www.youtube.com/debates or www.rpof.org or www.cnn.com/youtubedebates. 

CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world’s most extensively syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.

YouTube is the world’s largest online video community allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share originally created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube is based in San Bruno, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.