YouTubing all the way to the White House

I don't go YouTubing much, not because of some noble desire to resist the tide. My reason is simple: Blogging is bad enough. I rarely come up for air as it is. I can only imagine the cinematic vortex I would be sucked into were I to spend much time over at YouTube.

As the most popular video sharing clearinghouse on the internet, YouTube is quickly becoming a cultural tour de force, especially within our evolving political landscape. Much of the cyberbanter this week has centered on the mysterious "Hillary 1984" political ad which recently surfaced on YouTube. It has been described as "guerrilla politics at its cleverest" and has received more than 1.5 million hits since it first appeared on the site on March 5th. With an Orwellian foreboding, the pro-Obama ad (a modern adaptation of Apple's original commercial) portrays Hillary Clinton in the role of Big Brother.

On Wednesday Phillip de Vellis admitted creating the ad on his own time while working as a strategist with Blue State Digital. (See their statement on the video here.) (Side note: Hugh Hewitt made an interesting observation about MSM's tepid response to the outing of de Vellis. It's not hard to imagine the backlash had he been a key operative in one of the GOP presidential campaigns.)

The emergence of YouTube presents an entirely unique dynamic to this season's political elections, as well as, those to come in the future. In fact, people are already suggesting that this "could represent a watershed moment in 21st century media and political advertising." We need only remember Lyndon Johnson's famous "Girl with the Daisy" campaign commercial to understand the power of political advertising. That simple, yet provocative, ad was largely responsible for his lopsided victory over Barry Goldwater during the 1964 presidential race.

The internet has filled a very critical role in our culture. The blogosphere and video sharing sites like YouTube have effectively crippled the MSM's monopoly on the political dialogue and put it more squarely in the hands of the people. As Gary Varvel points out, "Any computer savvy kid with an imagination has the power to drive the debate."

Imagine what a candidate can do through political advertising on sites like YouTube without the corresponding costs for ad buys that drive the fundraising efforts in so many campaigns. Not only that, but the internet affords any candidate a virtually limitless ad market. A candidate can advertise to constituents all over the world (think absentee military voters) without increased costs to his campaign, thus allowing for a diversification of campaign funds toward other needs. That alone could revolutionize prevailing political strategy. (Could there be a day when a candidate eliminates all advertising through yard signs, mailings, and print ads, choosing to only use the internet? It's quite possible in the not-so-distant future.)

Phillip de Vellis won't be unemployed for long. YouTubing represents the wave of the future within cyberpolitics. And it will be the most foresighted of our current presidential candidates who rides that wave all the way to the White House.

UPDATE: Patrick Ruffini's column over at Townhall highlights some of the same themes presented above.

Comments

[estevan]

YouTube rocks!!

[Mandy]

I must admit that I am also a YouTube fan. Some wierd stuff, but some gems too. Not surprised that it's going to be a mainstage for political banter. Why not? Free and far-reaching!