What’s that you say? Google isn’t a Presidential Candidate? Yeah, I know that!

But here’s an interesting point about the debates last night. Forget about John McCain tutoring Barack Obama on the differences between strategy and tactics. Forget about Barack Obama’s constant corrections on the errors in McCain’s statements about his (Obama’s) record and policies.

I noticed something very interesting but subtle in the debates last night. Did you?

What am I driving at? Technology! And specifically Web 2.0 as it relates to Google!

That’s right! If you’re scratching your head it’s because you missed it!

The first mention of Web 2.0 in the debates was when Senator Barack Obama suggested that if he were president, he’d “Google-ize” the federal budget. He said! Go back and listen again!

I LOVE the idea! You can search for programming code, answers to your most probing questions, and even get definitions from Google. Why not get the Federal Budget!

(Note to Google: If the polls are correct as to the winner last night - Obama - you’d better get busy on building the framework for it!)

Would it not be the most awesome tool to have available? You can see just where the government waste is, find out which of our elected officials are shirking their responsibilities, and then e-mail them a “heads-up” right from your gmail account! How cool is that?

Now, if you didn’t catch the second Web 2.0 reference, it might be because you weren’t watching CNN.

Although not included in the segment being broadcast on CNN, Donna Brazile, a Democratic Strategist stated in the analysis (paraphrased) that except for the time when Barack Obama turned to face McCain and counted the three things he (McCain) was wrong on about Iraq, there were no other “YouTube moments.” (See the video clip below)

We have moved beyond “Hallmark moments” to “YouTube moments” and Google-izing!

That is why I have declared that Google (who owns YouTube) is decisively the winner of the first 2008 debate!

Let’s hear it for Web 2.0 and Google!

CNN Analysts Reaction