Mundelein man sounds off on new debate format

Cris Nolan didn't know the videotaped question he submitted for last week's CNN-YouTube Democratic presidential debate was chosen for broadcast until he saw it on the screen.

"I started screaming, telling everyone (I was) on TV," Nolan, 28, of Mundelein, recalled Monday. "They weren't even watching it on the TV upstairs."

Nolan was among nearly 3,000 people who submitted videos for the debate, held July 23 in South Carolina, according to youtube.com. Only 38 questions were chosen for the broadcast.

A Democratic precinct committeeman for the past two years, Nolan liked the format of the discussion, the first of its kind. He was pleased some of the questions actually led to real debate among the candidates, such as one about meeting with world dictators.

"It allows people to ask questions that a lot of the time, I don't think reporters ask," said Nolan, a student at Lake Forest College.

Nolan's question, labeled No. 1276, was the 34th question aired. He asked if the candidates had a problem with the same two families running the executive branch of the government for 28 consecutive years, a possibility if Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York is elected.

Nolan, who supports Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois but would like former Vice President Al Gore to run, was displeased with Clinton's response but said other candidates answered the question.

His question and the responses can be found online at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxgRyXR1rXo.

Nolan and his 6-year-old daughter, Averi, each prepared questions for the debate and submitted them about a month ago. Averi's aired, too, but only during a segment at the beginning of the broadcast that focused on rejected questions.

Averi didn't mind, Nolan said.

"My daughter absolutely loved it," Nolan said. "It was really cool to see her on CNN."

A CNN-YouTube debate focusing on the Republican Party candidates is scheduled for Sept. 17. Nolan said he's working on a question for that program, too.

For information about the GOP debate, go to youtube.com/republicandebate.