Bloggers generally liked last night's CNN/YouTube debate, saying the event "actually lived up to its hype."

"For about two hours last night, American political discourse was more genuine, diverse and -- just as the Internet visionaries promised -- more authentic than most days on the campaign trail," Ari Melber said in a blog at The Huffington Post.

Some bloggers thought the event was such a success that they went on to say debates using reporter's questions were less effective.

"I think the formats of debate that are done by reporter questions are weak in comparison," Todd Beeton said on a thread at MyDD.com, which afterwards discussed the debate via Internet radio. "It also seems to keep the candidates on their toes a bit more, or off balance, which is good too."

Some bloggers weren't sold.

Jeff Jarvis, who championed the event Sunday as a step forward in free speech, later criticized CNN for choosing videos that made this debate "the usual horse-race blather."

"I am sorely disappointed. CNN selected too many obvious, dutiful, silly questions," Jarvis said in a wrap-up post titled "Their Debate," a slight variation from his previous entries on the debate, entitled "Our Debate." "I have no doubt -- no doubt -- that we, the people, would have done a better job picking the questions than CNN did."

He ended with: "A terribly wasted opportunity, this was."

Kos, on a thread at Dailykos.com, was discouraged by CNN's selection of pundits for the pre-debate panel. "The CNN pre-debate panel: a Republican strategist (Ed Rollins), a conservative columnist from the NY Daily News (Michael Goodwin), and a Hillary strategist. And Lou Dobbs. UGH," he said.

But in the end, Kos called the debate "pretty cool."

Michelle Malkin, who added her voice to the critics', didn't think too highly of the debate, repeatedly calling it a "circus."

"Yeah, it's tonight at 7pm Eastern. The 'historic' night on which presidential candidates will attempt to prove their hipness and Yoot Vote appeal by making contrived references to LonelyGirl15, Ask a Ninja, and these techno-fancy things on the Internets called 'blogs,'" Malkin said.

Hugh Hewitt also criticized the questions CNN chose, saying:

"Five out of six of the questions have been idiotic, while a few have been quite good. The most disingenuous moment was when Anderson Cooper protested that the "are you authentically black" question to Senator Obama wasn't his. Yes, indeed, it was Cooper's question, because CNN's staff, with Cooper's participation, selected these questions. All of these questions are CNN's, and it is silly to protest otherwise. If any of them are inappropriate or silly, that reflects on CNN's judgment."

-- Brandon Leonard, intern, The Washington Times