Here's a quick assessment of Senator McCain's "Behind the Scenes" videos on YouTube.

A few weeks back Micah Sifry noted this about the McCain campaign's forays in YouTube-land:

The McCain campaign keeps diligently posting its "Behind the Scenes" videos on YouTube, but something doesn't seem to be working. The most recent additions--from Little Rock, Arkansas; Inez, Kentucky; and Youngstown, Ohio--have the value of documenting the Senator's recent campaign stops, but with fewer than a thousand views each I'm not sure what they're accomplishing with them. Anyone have a clue?

Micah Sifry made a great point and illuminated something we ought to talk about.

The McCain campaign's "Behind the Scenes" videos aren't working because they aren't behind the scenes. Watch the one in Youngstown, Ohio. He's talking to a journalist. Who's he talking to in that video at Little Rock, Arkansas? Well, definitely not you --- the viewer at YouTube. He's talking to another journalist and to a crowd at a town hall event. He's not talking specifically to those watching him on YouTube. C'mon Senator McCain, tell us something you're not telling reporters or won't tell at a town hall meeting. Tell us what's on your mind. Give us some insight we can't get anywhere else -- except from watching this video on YouTube. Then I'll watch it, and so will everyone else.