Daily Digest: 2/20/07
BY Joshua Levy | Tuesday, February 20 2007
The Web on the Candidates
- YouTube can be friend and enemy to a campaign, reports the Mercury News. The ubiquity of cell phone cameras and online video can make candidates extremely wary the YouTube effect, but they can also use it to their advantage. "One slip, and it's out so fast and goes so far. You're more exposed, but you can react faster, too, so it cuts both ways," Bruce Hildebrand says.
- Jeff Jarvis recently launched Prezvid, a blog that covers presidential campaigns' use of video, and his video post about John McCain's use of video is spot on. Jarvis critiques McCain's over-produced videos -- rightly pointing out that his videos look like they're meant for the large screen, but they'll only be seen on computer screens -- and offers unsolicited advice and how to make better use the increasingly important medium.
- Net Neutrality has become a major platform for Democratic presidential candidates, all of whom support it, according to the Washington Post. However, it isn't a Democratic issue; groups like the Christian Coalition of America and Gun Owners of America are also champions of net neutrality, noting its importance to all grassroots groups.
The Candidates on the Web
- Twenty-eight days after she announced, "I'm in," Hillary Clinton has launched a blog. Although the main blogger is Crystal Patterson, the campaign held a contest for supporters to write the first post on the blog, and the winning post, predictably, comes from a first-time voter with a husband in the Air Force. Another post comes from Ellen Malcolm, founder of EMILY'S list; it looks like, for now, we won't be seeing more organically generated posts. There are comments, however, so let's keep an eye on them.
- Bill Richardson is posting his public campaign schedule on the front page of his site with campaign tidbits like:
Saturday, February 24
WHEN: 6:30 p.m.
WHAT: Keynote address to the Broward County Democrats' annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner
WHERE: Bonaventure Resort and Spa, 250 Racquet Club Road, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida