A group protesting Barack Obama's stand on warrantless surveillance has attracted more than 10,000 members in just a week, making it the largest user-created group on MyBarackObama.com; we spotlight a tech policy dust-up worth keeping an eye on: the conservative battle over broadband; a new experiment in governing out of the U.K. pairs government data stashes and a cash prize; and much, much more.

The Web on the Candidates

The big news in tech and politics is tonight's YouTube/CNN debate. The blogosphere and big media are buzzing about it, with some pundits repeating Howard Kurtz's false dichotomy of "are YouTube and other video websites really changing politics or just grabbing a lot of media attention." On his "Reliable Sources" show on CNN, Kurtz asked Ana Marie Cox whether the debate is democratic or a gimmick, to which Cox replied, "as much as I want to be cynical about it, I remember four years ago, Howie, talking to you about whether or not bloggers were gonna be an important factor in the election..." Meanwhile Election Geek, like other skeptics, doesn't see anything revolutionary here: "this thing won’t revolutionize politics, it probably won’t even be interesting television, but it has given all the Web sites and CNN itself endless chatter and chances to promote so it is good." But Jeff Jarvis at PrezVid sees some real potential in the new format. "The YouTube debates could fundamentally change the dynamics of politics in America, giving a voice to the people, letting us be heard by the powerful and the public, enabling us to coalesce around our interests and needs, and even teaching reporters who are supposed to ask questions in our stead how they should really do it." This could be a chance for CNN to show the public that the American public is smart, well-informed, and engaged. That, or "CNN could pick the dutiful, dull, obvious, sophomoric questions and make us look like a nation of dolts."

About that debate: stay tuned for techPresident's first foray into online video! Our debut effort will gauge the reactions of a few of your favorite TP bloggers and some other stars of the video-blogosphere -- look for it soon after the debate.