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Gov. Chris Gregoire and Dino Rossi will have their first debate forum on the internet later this month, as part of a YouTube "citizentube" forum later this year.

The series, where users submit question via video and text for the candidates to answer, is featuring some of the nation's top races. So far they have done this forum for Minnesota's U.S. senate race between Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken. Gregoire-Rossi, which is compared in the teaser to some of the great boxing matches, real and fictional, of the last forty years, is the second debate in the series.

Questions must be submitted by August 12, and the top five will be chosen.

The Washington State Democratic Party released two videos on Wednesday to highlight the differences in the campaign styles of Gov. Chris Gregoire and her opponent Dino Rossi. Specifically, they try to mock the exclusive nature of Rossi's campaign events that are otherwise billed as being open to the public.

In the latest example they show Rossi's campaign, with the help of the Washington State Farm Bureau, roping off an event in East Wenatchee's Hydro Park with yellow caution tape which the Democrats say suggests a police crime scene. To hammer home the point they open and close the video with the theme song to television's "Law & Order". This is the second such video they have released showing Democrats being turned away from Rossi events.

Twice in a row now the Washington State Democratic Party has had to move to "plan B", but not for lack of prime candidates. No, their trouble has come in the online video arena.

On June 25, 2008 the Democrats caught heat from the Italian club of Seattle for a video they called offensive for its use of the theme song to the television show "The Sopranos" juxtaposed with a black and white photo of Dino Rossi. In response the Democrats kept the video but changed the background music.

Now in their latest video, released Wednesday, showing the Rossi campaign turning back people with video cameras from his public events, the Democrats are back to the drawing board once again.

State and local Republicans are trying to capitalize on the legal woes of Democratic state senate candidate Fred Walser (D-Sultan), who pled guilty two weeks ago to misdemeanor charges of withholding evidence. Walser maintains that that the entire incident was a misunderstanding, and told the Everett Herald's Jerry Cornfield that the sentencing was, "the worst day of my life."

Still, Walser is staying in the race to unseat state Sen. Val Stevens (R-Arlington), and the Republicans are using multimedia, Cornfield reports, to try to ensure that Walser's bad day lasts until November. The state Republican caucus has created a video modeled on the cable channel VH1's celebrity show, "Best Week Ever" to mock the week in which Walser pled guilty. Then on a grassroots level, 39th Legislative District resident Chris Nandor, better known in the blogosphere as "Pudge", wrote a song to coincide with the video.

Washington state Republicans are getting some publicity help from a higher source. The Republican National Committee sent out an e-mail to media today urging them to check out the Washington State Republican Party's latest attack video.

This spot goes after 8th District Democratic candidate Darcy Burner by painting her as inexperienced and inappropriate. It begins with a black screen and text that reads, "Darcy Burner is running for Congress again...with the same thin resume voters rejected in 2006." This comes just two days after her opponent, Rep. Dave Reichert, was listed by Roll Call as one of the ten most endangered incumbents in Congress.

The video was created to garner attention coinciding with the end of the Q1 fundraising cycle, but with the general sensation of youtube, video releases go well beyond money.