The Web on the Candidates

• Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) launched his presidential campaign, via web video, in a hail of controversy regarding comments he made in reference to fellow Democrat, Senator Barack Obama (IL). Within hours, the audio of his remarks made it to YouTube, as did a clip of FOX News -- no stranger to an Obama controversy -- airing Biden's clarification. The senator later joked about it with The Daily Show host, Jon Stewart. (Video here.)
• In South Carolina, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) is determined to win as he picked up the support of forty State House members -- all caught on video -- via Laurin Manning of South Carolina '08.
• Hotline On Call's Marc Ambinder wonders about "YouTube Oversaturation Syndrome." Says Ambinder: "If Romney survives these next few months and manages to convince conservatives that he's real, what happens in late 2007, when McCain airs an ad with some heretofore undiscovered Romney flip-flop? Will the political world be to YouTubed to death to care?" Something to ponder.
• The popular search engine Google introduced a new algorithm to battle "Google bombs," which is a coordinated effort to rig search results. MyDD blogger Chris Bowers wrote that he is unsure if this move is a response to his 2006 campaign to Google bomb a few dozen Republicans seeking re-election. But the move by Google may have preempted any notion to reprise the call in 2008.

The Candidates on the Web

• The Democratic National Committee Winter Meeting will feature several Democratic candidates and the candidates are trying to create excitement for their appearances to make a splash in Washington, D.C. Senator John Edwards (D-NC) is promoting his Friday morning appearance on the front page. Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) has it featured in his upcoming events. Senator Mike Gravel (D-AK) alerted his supporters via e-mail with all the details.
• Howard Fineman, writing for MSNBC, commented on the bare bones Obama (D-IL) calls a campaign website. "No blogs, no video, no trail reports," he observed. But Communications Director, Robert Gibbs, says that will change on February 10, the day Obama is expected to formally announce his candidacy. However, a Barack Obama Facebook group -- One Million Strong for Barack -- has created plenty of buzz with 189,000 total members. In much the same way his announcement video created knockoffs, supporters of other candidates started "One Million Strong" groups with only a fraction of the support for Obama.
• In his announcement video, Biden (D-DE) spoke softly with an open-collar in front of a roaring fireplace. Running on his foreign policy experience, he commented almost entirely on Iraq. His campaign website includes links to "current initiatives": Plan for Iraq, with an option to endorse it, and No More Troops that includes a petition.