(CNN) -- Eight Republican presidential hopefuls are preparing for a
challenge unlike anything they've faced as they step onto the stage for
their party's first CNN/YouTube debate Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The Republican hopefuls will face off Wednesday in a CNN/YouTube debate,
just as Democrats did in July.
The candidates will be fielding video questions submitted by the public via
the YouTube Web site, just as Democratic White House candidates did in July.
CNN's political team has viewed nearly 5,000 videos for the GOP debate --
about 2,000 more than they saw for the Democrats' debate.
As the questions have poured in, CNN's producers have noticed a big
difference in comparison to the submissions for the Democratic debate,
televised on CNN at 8 p.m. ET.
"The issues that are important to YouTube voters were absolutely different
than what we saw submitted for the Democratic debate," said Sam Feist, CNN's
political director.
The topics that came up most often for the GOP debate included immigration,
conservative values, economic issues and taxes, according to David Bohrman,
Washington bureau chief and senior vice president for CNN.
While CNN producers won't say which 40 or so questions are going to make the
cut, viewers can expect to see divisive questions, controversial questions
and questions that will set the candidates apart.
"This debate is to let Republican voters pick from among their eight
candidates," he said. "We are trying to focus mostly on questions where
there are differences among these candidates."
The debate marks the first time all eight GOP candidates have been on the
same stage in more than a month, and the format of this debate is new to the
candidates. The candidates and their campaigns have no idea exactly what to
expect.
"There is some sense of the unknown, and so they're going to be a little bit
out of their normal comfort zone, which is a good thing," Bohrman said.
The user-generated format marks a major step toward involving people in the
process of selecting a nominee. It's also changed the way people view
presidential debates, Bohrman said.
Unless someone happened to be in an Iowa farmhouse or a New Hampshire coffee
shop, having an impact on the nominating process was "impenetrable" to
outsiders, Bohrman said, referring to the first two states to hold caucuses
or a primary.
That's no longer the case, because questions asked during the Democratic
CNN/YouTube debate continue to resonate on the campaign trail, Feist said.
Producers wonder if any stars will be born during this week's debate, like
when Billiam the Snowman made a guest appearance during the Democratic
debate. Will Jackie Broyles and Dunlap be back with the Red State update?
"There are plenty of animated figures out there, there are certainly some
funny questions, but more importantly, there are hundreds, if not thousands
of really, really good, solid questions from real people on real issues,"
Feist said
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