By K. Daniel Glover

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- What happens when a wild range of nonjournalists get to grill candidates in a presidential debate? After several weeks of hype, CNN and YouTube answered that question here this week in an innovative two-hour event that featured questions posed via video clips.

The result was a mix of serious and silly questions -- and serious ones in silly packaging, such as the snowman who asked the eight Democratic candidates what they would do about global warming "to ensure that my son will live a full and happy life."

Other questioners came across as plain scary. A Michigan man brandished an assault weapon as he asked the presidential wannabes what they would do to protect "my baby." New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson gave a polite answer about the importance of instant background checks for gun buyers, but Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware lashed out at the questioner. "I don't know that he is mentally qualified to be owning that gun," Biden said. "I'm being serious.... I hope he doesn't come looking for me."

Many of the debate questions were ones that professional journalists probably wouldn't ask. To Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois: Are you black enough? To Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York: Are you feminine enough, and would you ever be taken seriously as president in talks with Arab nations that treat women as second-class citizens?