One of the great things about this particular campaign is how the passion it has inspired has intersected with new technologies that have completely lowered the barriers to entry for actively participating. (And yes, the second has also been a factor in the first.) This new access — powered by these new technology — has resulted in work that has broken into and shaped the national discourse: Think of Obama Girl, the response to the McCain "Celebrity" video, the original "Hillary 1984" video, crystallizing early opposition to a Clinton candidacy, the work of our own Mayhill Fowler . Never mind the wild profusion of blogs and social networking, used for messaging and spreading information and stubbornly keeping things in the spotlight that might otherwise fade away.
But there's another reason why this campaign represents a great moment in intersecting passion and participation: It's a great teaching tool. During the CNN/YouTube debates, a teacher at Dawson County High in Dawsonville, Georgia used the debates as a classroom study tool, even encouraging his students to submit questions. And then there's this kid: 5th grader Damon Weaver, reporting for "KEC TV" at Canal Point Elementary in Palm Beach County, interviewing Joe Biden at a local event. This is just one of the videos available on SchoolTube, where many such videos are posted, and where teachers can go for lesson plans to help kids learn these skills. Which is sort of awesome. As Oliver Willis says of young Damon: "Let's give Damon Weaver an event to cover in Washington in January." Amen.
Here's Damon's interview with Biden below — he must have liked it, because he closed by saying, "Senator Biden is now my homeboy." p.s. Compare and contrast Biden's answer to "What does the Vice President do?" with the one given by Sarah Palin.