So far only two Republicans, Arizona Sen. John McCain and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, have said they will participate in the debate.

With 2/3 of the country against what they are doing on the hill, I would avoid YouTube too.

Ron Paul is the only candidate from that side of the aisle fit to consider hearing out. No armchair pundit is going to sacrifice valuable porn-surfing to hear McLame sing Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran. No one is in a hurry to see this rabid pack of GOP codgers forced to conveniently not mention Dumya43 to loudly invoke Ronald Reagan to establish a bare modicum of credibility. Thus, I can appreciate GOP reluctance. YouTube is not a GOP-friendly campaign tool. That bunch of right winged farts always come off as that much further out of touch with contemporary humanity on YouTube. The very prospect of one of those old weasels actually making it to the Oval Office is scary. However, I might be tempted to open another tab if Rotten Rudy is going to perspire delicately in a pink frilly dress under heavy New York City Fire Fighter scrutiny. I might even burn a DVD of that.

Now, just think about this - the Republican candidates for President of the most powerful nation on the planet are afraid to face questions posed by average Americans?

Is this the Twilight Zone?

It's simply that the Republican party establishment is afraid of seeing it's "golden boy" candidates blown out of the water by Ron Paul in a very public spectacle.
YouTube's already shown that it loves to hear Ron Paul's message, far more than anything coming from any other candidate in either of the "Big Two" parties.
Why is that?
Well, as Ron himself says: "It just might be that freedom is popular."

Aw, come on, folks. The Republician's are really trying to come up with a way to make this happen. As soon as they figure out how to limit entries to their own staff and PR people,it will happen.
Ron Paul is one viable candidate from that side of the aisle.I just hope we can come up with one as good or even better from our side.

JamesL, one has to wonder just exactly how "in touch" the power structure of the Democratic party really is.
For instance, I got an email this morning from the DCCC, written by speaker Pelosi, telling me that:
"...the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) created the 2008 Grassroots Campaign Plan."

exCUSE Me?!?!
"Grassroots" movements (in Their minds) grow from the very top echelon of the party, DOWN?!?! That's some seriously INVERTED grass!

Sorry Nancy, but what you see with Congressman Ron Paul's campaign is what "grassroots" really means.
For them to try and sell something formulated by the top players in the Democratic party as "grassroots"..., well, it's informative if nothing else.