Sunday, September 2, 2007

Internet and politics Here's a short article about YouTube's effects on politics, from The Denver Post. From the article: With a few mouse clicks, voters can access one of the first ads in the race for the open U.S. Senate seat in Colorado, a biting piece that describes U.S. Rep. Mark Udall as a "Boulder Liberal" who voted for higher taxes. More clicks lead to videos promoting or targeting Republican U.S. Reps. Marilyn Musgrave of Fort Morgan; Doug Lamborn of Colorado Springs; and Tom Tancredo of Littleton, who is running for president. Internet video-sharing site YouTube.com shifted presidential politics earlier this year. The technology now is reshaping local politics as well. The increasingly popular site contains video clips attacking or highlighting every member of Colorado's congressional delegation. The videos address issues ranging from global warming and immigration to drilling on the Roan Plateau and the Army's plan to expand its Piñon Canyon training site. As they look ahead to the 2008 election, the campaigns are strategizing ways to adapt to the increasingly popular technology... What's less clear is what effect, if any, the videos can have. In some cases the videos are viewed less than a few hundred times, compared with the 3.6 million hits on "Obama girl," the video featuring a woman saying she has a crush on presidential candidate Barack Obama. For those running for office, there is no option other than to get videos online, on the chance people are watching... Each congressional campaign is likely to have an Internet strategy as a core part of its approach for the 2008 election, said John Palfrey, executive director of the Beckman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. Campaigns will have to plan not only how to get their own footage online, experts said, but how to respond quickly to videos posted by their opponents and anyone else with a camera. Category: 2008 Presidential Election 8:25:21 AM

© Copyright 2007 John Orr. Last update: 10/4/07; 7:56:15 AM.