It's disconcerting to learn that your 88-year-old mother is hipper, cooler and more in touch with what's going on than you are. That was the situation I found myself in after our weekly telephone chat last week. Mom is a lifelong conservative Republican and remains actively engaged in politics, if only as a highly interested observer, and she loves to talk about it.

Our weekly talks invariably end up with discussion about the current political situation. In years past, they have been more like arguments than discussions. But as we've both grown older, we've found ourselves more often on common ground than apart. So it was with some surprise that we had opposing views about the CNN-YouTube debate among the eight Democrats running for president.

I thought I was on safe ground when I told her I didn't think much of the debate. I told her that the YouTube element seemed to me to be a mockery of something that should be taken seriously. I spouted on about how it was just a gimmick and would have the effect of reducing presidential debates to the level of the ubiquitous reality shows that populate television.

The line went quiet for a moment, and then she said, "You think so?" Uh-oh. I knew that tone, and I was in trouble.

She agreed that it got bizarre a couple of times, she didn't think much of the poetry and the costumes, but that, overall, she thought it was entertaining and fun. She really struck home when she said that many of the questions from the YouTube folks were a lot more interesting than the ones from the journalists.

She thought that the candidates' responses were far more revealing than their typical stock answers to the typical stock questions from journalists. She appreciated that the candidates were able to show a different side, especially a sense of humor, or lack of one. Mom puts having a sense of humor high on the list of desirable characteristics of presidential candidates.

It wasn't a surprise, then, when she asked, in so many words, when did I become such a stuffed shirt. "I don't remember you taking yourself so seriously," she said.

Mom was right, of course. I was sounding like a pompous jerk and, if I were honest, would admit there were many parts of the debate that I found amusing and insightful. Who couldn't help but get a chuckle from Rep. Dennis Kucinich when he acknowledged that the other seven candidates were positioned to the right of him because they couldn't find anyone who was further left?

Equally amusing, and revealing, was Sen. Barack Obama's response to the question: Are you black enough? "You know, when I'm catching a cab in Manhattan in the past, I think I've given my credentials," he said.

Despite the quirky atmosphere provided by the YouTube questioners, from the talking snowman to the Michigan guy holding an automatic weapon to the woman speaking from her bathroom, the candidates were still able to address the serious questions about the Iraq war and other foreign-policy issues. They still got their shots in at one another and, at the same time, were able to distinguish themselves from one another. In short, voters got to see the candidates in a different and, perhaps, new light.

Curmudgeons like myself might grumble about this type of debate format, but, in truth, after all the political hot air is expelled, the overall assessment of the debate should probably be favorable.

The CNN-YouTube debate certainly escaped the criticism of previous presidential debates as scripted, boring and totally devoid of any insight into the true character of the candidates. In those debates, even moments of supposed spontaneity were scripted and rehearsed. It was possible to do that because the questioning was predictable. It's hard to script and rehearse for a question from someone dressed in a snowman costume. And how can you plan to respond to someone speaking from her bathroom?

We probably learned more about Sen. Joe Biden when he harshly remarked about Jered, the guy from Michigan who appeared holding an automatic weapon, that "He needs help." For that matter, we probably learned a lot more about all the candidates. The questions were blunt, the questioners demanded direct answers and, for the most part, the candidates delivered.

Not only was that refreshing, it was a far cry from the sidestepping, double-talk and misdirection we typically see at presidential debates. It was also refreshing that an 88-year-old political junkie could open the eyes of someone whose thinking was stuck in the past.

— Joe R. Howry is editor of The Star. He can be reached by phone at 437-0200 or by e-mail at jhowry@VenturaCountyStar.com.