The Web on the Candidates

Writing about the upcoming CNN/YouTube debates, Newsweek's Andrew Romano wonders if "the mainstream media, and the politicians they cover, ever fully relinquish the reins" of control over the debates and the political process. Romano reviews the controversy over CNN's decision to choose which videos to show the candidates during the debate, rather than let the community of YouTube viewers choose them. "The first CNN-YouTube debate (the GOP meets in September) will be one of the highest-profile marriages of old and new media in the history of presidential politics—and (surprise!) the culture clash is well underway," Romano writes. David Bohrman, CNN's executive producer, thinks opening up the selection process to YouTube users is "dangerous." "With the anonymity of the Internet, you can cross the line. There's a small, good gatekeeper function we still need to play," Bohrman told Romano. Once the debate plays out, it will be "the most democratic debate ever," as YouTube politics editor Steve Grove puts it. Meanwhile, California Rep. George Miller has initiated a true two-way conversation using the web with his Ask George project. "This is a way for me to bring people inside the Beltway, and for them to drag me outside it," Miller says. "It's very much a conversation, and I can't just call it off. I'm not in the driver's seat anymore."

BarelyPolitical, the folks behind "I've Got a Crush on Obama, are back with a sequal of sorts. The Washington Post's Monica Hesse calls the new video, called "Obama Girl vs. Giuliani Girl," a "smackdown" between Obama girl Amber Lee Ettinger a Giuliani supporter played by Adelina Kristina. It's not as catchy as the first song, and nothing matches the former's racy content. "About the hardest-hitting lyric in the new video is 'Nothing is worse than Giuliani in drag,'" writes Hesse. "This is less than convincing. These girls don't look like they'd mind that sort of thing at all." The larger question, of course, is whether these kinds of videos aid the political process or are just eye candy. "Humor has always been a part of campaigns," says Ben Relles, the creator, with Leah Kauffman, of the videos. "When I was 12 I wasn't reading Newsweek. My exposure to politics was watching Dana Carvey do George Bush on 'Saturday Night Live.' He did his 'no new taxes' routine, and that's probably how I learned what taxes were."

Take a look at Media Matters today for a glimpse of the potential problems with mixing citizen-generated content and our current political culture — how segments of the mainstream media react when they're presented with something other than the usual scripted campaign events and talking points. I'm talking about Obamagirl, of course (bless her heart), whose winsome smile and winning figure were all over cable news the past few days.

Was her crush on the candidate a plus for him? A minus? Who knows for sure, but some commentators were happy to fit the moment into a running media theme about Obama — that he's too young and too pretty to be President of the United States. Obama lacks substance, apparently, despite the dry policy speeches he's happy to give, and the Obamagirl video fits into the world-view of that part of the political commentariat that doesn't want to take him seriously.

The sudden interest in Obamagirl's Crush on Barack music video provides a great opporunity to talk once more about the nature of internet communications. As I have often argued, the net is a chaotic message environment precisely because it enables anyone, as long as they have access to a wired computer, to post their own ideas and opinions. And this content has no editor other than the poster.

So, just as the 1984 video before swept through the campaign news cycle, the Obamagirl video may be starting its sweep now.

But what does this mean for the candidate?