Yesterday marked the third anniversary of George Allen calling S.R. Siddarth “Macaca” while Siddarth’s camera rolled.

Macaca Day, for those of us who make our living from video on the Internet and elsewhere, is a holy day – the day that marks the birth of YouTube politics, and reminds us that citizens with cellphone cameras and a YouTube account - or at least an election.

But August 2009 isn’t merely the third anniversary of Macaca Day. It is also proving to be perhaps the most important month yet in the short history of YouTube and digital video politics.

The Cliff Notes Version:
(1) WhiteHouse.gov/TV; (2) Weekly Webcast; (3) GovTube; (4) Put Content on Non-Governmental sites; (5) Create New Media, Transparency, and Technology offices in every executive branch agency; (6) Monthly Department Secretaries webcasts; (7) Webcast the Inauguration; (8) Make the State of the Union an interactive multimedia event; (9) Make the President's Annual Budget a digital, multimedia document; (10) Enact all of this and more first by executive order, then through legislation, so future Administrations can't just hard reboot your digital legacy.

For the full version, read on...

Just two years ago, the modern age of YouTube/Web Video Politics began:

On 8.11.06, Sen. George Allen, a shoo-in for reelection and early favorite for the GOP 08 pres nomination, called Web Campaign video tracker S.R. Sidarth "Macaca." On 8.14.08, the Webb campaign, unable to get TV stations to take the video and run with the story, posted it on the new video service, YouTube, which as of then was not on anyone's political radar.

The rest is history.

In her non-concession speech, Hillary asks for input - but is it just to stall? Or a fundraising ploy? And did Peter Daou warn her about what Chris "Google Bomb" Bowers can do with an open invite like that?

PLUS: Did Hillary have her event 50 feeut underground to duck Obama's cellphone call???

How will the end game play out? You make the call!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/29/delegate.counter/index.html

h/t Heather

After weeks of gotchas from the e-paparazzi, which seemed to suggest Web Video is the medium only of the gaffe, along comes a Web Video exposé that restores faith in the new citizen medium.

This YouTube video – http://youtube.com/watch?v=B4P-camUjjk – exposed the deplorable conditions of the Fort Bragg barracks where soldiers returning from Afghanistan live. Turns out that even when returning home, our soldiers have been living in Hell holes thanks to intolerable neglect.

And America might have never known of this intolerable treatment of our soliders – but for the efforts of a digital citizen and their a YouTube account.

Politically, 2008's "Bittergate" will be but a bump in the road compared to 2006's "Macaca Moment". But Bittergate DOES serve as a key reminder of the Macaca Moment’s core communications lesson for 21st century campaigns: Candidates should know they are being recorded 24/7.

Rich's column focuses less on the technology aspect debated by Zephyr and myself earlier in the week, and Friday by Ari Melber, but worth reading: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/10/opinion/10rich.html?_r=1&ref=opinion&o...

I thought the Clinton town hall was pretty cool -- and pretty significant.

Not because it was interactive-to-the-max (more on that below). Not because it was a great issues discussion for anyone who has been following the race closely (though its target audience are voters who have not been following the race closely). Not because Hillary is a great tech candidate, or will be a great tech president (though her gov Blogs proposal is the most interesting tech policy proposal to date). In fact, not because of Hillary at all (though she did well, though I’m sure Obama would have done better in that type of forum). Nor even because it was a great technological leap forward (Bill Clinton did the first electronic town hall in 92 - more later).

Hillary’s town hall was significant for more prosaic reasons: It took candidate electronic town halls - and TV/Web simulcasts - mainstream.

The Commission on Presidential Debates, the de facto big cheeses on general election debates, watched the primary debates, and embraced the future.