Edwards Campaign Press Release - Edwards to Answer Viewers' Questions on Webcast Following CNN-YouTube Debate

Chapel Hill, North Carolina – As part of its ongoing effort to reach out directly to voters, the John Edwards for President campaign announced today that immediately following the CNN-YouTube debate on July 23rd, Senator John Edwards will conduct a 30-minute live webcast on five web sites, where he will answer questions submitted to the campaign prior to and during the debate. The webcast will allow Edwards to give in-depth, substantive answers – not 60-second sound bites – on the critical issues facing the country.

"Debates too often do not provide voters with the type of comprehensive responses they want or deserve on important issues," said Edwards' spokeswoman Colleen Murray. "John Edwards has built a strong grassroots movement to change the direction of the country, and that will only grow by offering voters an active role in the debate process."

In the days leading up to and during the debate, people will be able to submit questions directly on JohnEdwards.com or by text messaging the word DEBATE to 30644. The campaign will also include questions from social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Care2, and Twitter in a live feed on JohnEdwards.com.

By taking questions from third-party sites, a larger and more diverse audience will be able to participate in the live webcast. Many of these sites will also co-host the live webcast with Edwards, allowing their communities to view the webcast without leaving their own site. The post-debate webcast will air live on the following websites: the campaign website (www.johnedwards.com), Edwards' MySpace page (myspace.com/johnedwards), CommunityCounts.us, Ustream.tv, and Care2.com. Additionally, Edwards will answer the two videos on CommunityCounts.us that receive the most votes from its community.