But he didn't get the answer he was going for.

Kempf, a 27-year-old Brigham Young University film major, posted a video on the Web on Friday night, hoping to be included in the first debate of its kind. He ended up with the first question.

With all eight Democrats on stage staring at a large screen Monday night in South Carolina, Kempf, in a close-up of his unshaven face, asked how they would get things done when "we have a bunch of leaders who can't seem to do their job."

"What's going to make you any more effectual, beyond all the platitudes and the stuff we're used to hearing?" Kempf said. "I mean, be honest with us. How are you going to be any different?"

Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Barack Obama of Illinois gave quick answers and CNN moved onto the next in a line of 35 more video questioners.

Kempf said it was "cool" to be included, but he wanted more than a runaround answer.

"They . . . didn't answer the question," he said. "They kind of missed an opportunity. You got people directly asking them questions. . . . It's not like you expect every answer to be perfect, but you want someone to stand up and take responsibility and answer the question directly."

Kempf, whose video at first includes a female friend laughing in the background and tapping the back of his head when he says "What's up?"

"I'm running out of tape; I have to hurry," he jokes.

Another Utahn, and a BYU graduate, was about to get his YouTube question aired but barely missed out on the broadcast because of time constraints.

YouTube flew 25-year-old Steve Petersen, originally of St. George, to The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., for the debate, where he sat four rows back from the stage. His question, on what news sources the candidates go to and whether they trust them, didn't make the cut but Petersen says he has already submitted it again for the Republican debate Sept. 17.

"I thought if I was going to have a fair shot I had to do something that was a little bit out of the ordinary," Petersen says. Plus, "Where people get their information is crucial."

One of the questions Peterson, a Mormon, submitted for the GOP debate asks the candidates other than fellow Mormon Mitt Romney how they would feel about a Mormon president. CNN will not announce which videos will be included in that debate until the event.

tburr@sltrib.com