Videoblogger Jordan Williams, a Kansas University student from Coffeyville, poses a question through YouTube to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton about how they will address critics about issues pertaining to their race and gender Monday night during a democratic presidential debate.

Kansas University junior Jordan Williams saw himself Monday night on CNN reading a question to Democratic presidential candidates.

“I was floored to begin with,” he said Tuesday. “And then, secondly, I was a little bit dismayed when Sen. Obama made a joke. : But they didn’t answer the question, so I was immediately a little annoyed.”

It was an introduction to presidential campaigns for the 20-year-old English and pre-law major, who was home in Coffeyville, where he is working at a McDonald’s this summer.

He had recorded video of his 27-second question on his computer and posted it on the YouTube Web site.

His was one of 3,000 questions submitted during Monday’s debate. Only a handful of questions made it to broadcast on the nationally televised debate.

Williams’ question – sometimes paraphrased as asking Sen. Barack Obama “Are you black enough?” – gained attention from political pundits and bloggers.

He said the question was carefully worded to ask what Obama and Sen. Hillary Clinton say to critics who may suggest Obama is not “black enough” or Clinton is “too manly.”

“I wanted them to indict the American public for having these preconceived notions,” Williams said. “It’s sad that we live in a country that puts people in such specific boxes of how they are supposed to act.”

Instead he thought both candidates avoided the question. The member of the KU Young Democrats supports Clinton because he believes she will “represent the progressive movement for women and minorities.”

Williams says he spends some of his free time watching C-SPAN or reading Time and Newsweek.

“I just think it’s very important,” Williams said. “Some people care about what Lindsay Lohan’s doing on the weekend, and I like to care about what speech (former) Sen. (John) Edwards recently gave.”

Aside from his question, he thinks the new form of debate was a success because it involved average citizens and younger Americans.

“It was a chance for the candidates to not use sound bites to escape a question,” he said.

The young political junkie asked a carefully worded question with the poise of a skilled pollster, but he sees his future profession somewhere else than on the campaign trail.

“I’d much rather be a citizen,” Williams said.