Analysis: White House Hopefuls v. YouTube
It's August. It's Friday. And I had some down time today. So I figured it might be fun to run a basic YouTube search on every top-tier presidential candidate just to see which videos about them would come up first.
Much was written during last year's elections about "Googlebombing" and manipulating the information that turns up in basic search queries for political candidates. I thought it would be a good exercise to see what would happen on YouTube when I punched in the top three Democrats and the top three Republicans in today's polls -- plus Fred Thompson, the steady-polling Republican "non-candidate."
As a general rule, the first videos, or group of videos, that come up for candidates on YouTube portray them negatively. Try it yourself. Search for Rudy Giuliani, and you'll find a video of him dressed in drag up top. Go fishing for Mitt Romney, and a video about his "flip-flopping" will be your first catch. If you're looking for John Edwards, you'll see him fixing his hair before you see him doing anything else.
Hillary Clinton's infamous spoof on "The Sopranos," which her campaign produced, leads her YouTube hit list. But it's immediately followed by the "Vote Different" spot produced by a Barack Obama supporter and a clip of her butchering the National Anthem. The first two Fred Thompson clips also are harmless. But they're right in front of video of him being angrily confronted by a group called Houston911Truth.
At first glance, it appears that John McCain gets better treatment on YouTube. His top video is a clip from his appearance on "Saturday Night Live," where he jokingly belted out a few Barbara Streisand tunes. But his second video documents contradictory statements he has made about the Iraq war and other issues. His fourth video shows him singing too -- but about bombing Iran.
There is one exception to the rule: Obama. Nearly every single video on the entire first page of an Obama search is one that he would be happy to have there. The very first video came straight from his campaign -- and spots made by his own team pretty much own the first few pages of an Obama search. On top of that, the independent videos that turn up are all, for the most part, glowing.
For now, it seems that YouTube is a much safer place for Obama than it is for any other presidential candidate. One might be inclined to say that would change if he handles another debate question like the one he took so much flak for at the CNN/YouTube forum in July. But judging from how deep that clip is buried in his search query, it looks like it would take a whole lot more than a single debate gaffe to put a dent into Obama's YouTube popularity. -- Michael Martinez
Join the Discussion
The National Journal Group has the right (but not the obligation) to monitor the comments and to remove any materials it deems inappropriate.
Comments powered by Disqus