From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Are YouTube and Web 2.0 changing American politics?

Hello again, I'm Aronaldi, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues, Americans care about most. CNN hyped last night's Democratic presidential debate as revolutionary,

because real people got to ask questions on video. Some students of politics in the media said

the event would do for interactive Web 2.0 what the Kennedy Nixon debates did for TV. Others called it just a tiny step forward,

because CNN got to decide which questions the candidates had to respond to. On to the point,

did the format make for entertaining TV? Were the candidates more authentic? Or did it finally

come down to politics as usual? On reporter's notebook later on, did a referee bet on

professional basketball games. First, here's the news. Support for To the Point comes from

subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the Public Radio International Program Fund, whose

contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Hello again. I'm in Alney back with To the Point. Democratic presidential candidates last night

faced questions posed by ordinary citizens on amateur video. CNN promoted it as the beginning of

real change in the style and substance of American politics.

On to the point did the debate live up to advance billing, or was it more of the same in a different format?

On reporter's notebook amid charges that a referee bet on games, Commissioner David Stern defends the credibility of professional basketball.

First, this news update. In May, the U.S. and Iran began talks about stabilizing Iraq, an event considered groundbreaking.

Today, in round two, all three nations agreed to set up an ongoing security subcommittee,

even though the U.S. said two months since May, the two months since May, have not been encouraging.

Neil King, as diplomatic correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, and Neil, thanks very much for being with us. Hey, Warren. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, was in the meeting, set up the subcommittee, but afterward seemed to be throwing cold water on it. Well, and beware of all subcommittees, I guess, might be the rule. I mean, this, by his own description, Mr. Crocker's description, this was a very cantankerous, often heated seven-hour session, including lunch, between the U.S. and Iran.

And there was a lot of arguments, evidently, about what exactly Iran was doing in Iraq at the

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