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 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.
“As YouTube became culturally relevant, there was a tremendous rush to put political stuff online,” said Rich Hanley, director of the school of communications at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut. “It just filtered down really to the local races.”
YouTube and other video-sharing sites are the ideal place for local politicians, experts said, because they are almost cost-free. A high-quality video can be produced for $5,000 or less, said Julie Barko Germany, deputy director of the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University.
In addition to clips posted by lawmakers, activist groups and individuals with a camcorder, national party leaders are posting clips that they say highlight their agenda.
Among the videos posted by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office are two of Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat, asking questions during a hearing on food safety. House Minority Leader John Boehner’s office posted a clip of fellow Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn criticizing “earmarks.”
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.
“You’ve just got to put it out there and hope someday it pays off,” said Tancredo, who’s featured in the most YouTube videos out of Colorado’s congressional delegation.
Tancredo’s presidential campaign has posted numerous videos on YouTube, something that started after a University of Pennsylvania student volunteered to help, Tancredo said. Student Mike Tate traveled with Tancredo and then uploaded the footage.
There also are videos created by others. One of those getting the most hits, with nearly 55,000 page views, is the Littleton Republican during a presidential debate raising his hand (along with two others) to say that he does not believe in evolution.
Another intersperses footage from the television show “24” with Tancredo’s statement during a presidential debate that “I’m looking for Jack Bauer,” to deal with terrorist threats. It has received more than 11,000 page views. It’s posted by someone who describes himself on YouTube as “a fan of Tom Tancredo and not related to the campaign.”
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.
The Udall clip describing him as Boulder liberal was posted about three months ago by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. The video opens with a voice declaring that “having Mark Udall in Congress is taxing,” followed by red arrows pointing to more than $1 trillion in higher taxes the piece says he approved.
It’s based on votes Udall cast against making tax cuts permanent, said Rebecca Fisher, spokeswoman for the GOP senatorial campaign committee, “which is tantamount to voting for a tax increase.”
Udall campaign manager Mike Melanson said the ad twists the facts, and that voting against a tax cut does not equal voting for higher taxes. The ad never would have been allowed on television, he said, which requires those buying ad time to verify their claims.
While it’s impossible to know if the ad would have been allowed on TV, its placement on YouTube gives the GOP senatorial campaign committee more flexibility. YouTube essentially is an unregulated space, analysts said.
“This has changed campaigning,” Melanson said. “And it’s a dynamic we all have to be aware of.”
Musgrave’s campaign said it will have a strategy both to promote her on YouTube and respond to attacks.
“Whatever potential there is for a negative impact, if you invest the time and resources, there’s an opportunity for a positive impact,” said Jason Thielman, Musgrave’s campaign spokesman.
