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."
• Chris Bowers, formerly of MyDD and now of Open Left, made news last year for his "Google Bomb the Elections" campaign. Now he's at it again. This time, he's organizing a Google bomb effort against Rudy Giuliani to try to sway public opinion against the Republican candidate. It works by embedding a link to one of three anti-Giuliani articles blog comment signatures, posting links to those articles in blog posts, and wherever else you would type the words "Rudy Giuliani" onine. The idea is to connect his name with negative articles about his candidacy...
• Political video wunderkind James Kotecki has some advice for the Democratic candidates as they prepare for the YouTube/CNN debates. He has suggestions for every candidate, and most of it is pertinent and funny at the same time. My favorite bit was his advice for John Edwards: "Senator Edwards, you've got the ability to combine the smooth optimistic rhetoric of Obama with the rigorous policy ideas of Clinton so... do that."

The Candidates on the Web

• Ron Paul stopped by the YouTube offices last Friday, where he sat down with politics editor Steve Grove for an interview... except that Grove didn't ask the questions. Instead, in a preview of the CNN/YouTube debate format, Grove asked the YouTube community to upload video questions for Paul. The interview mostly consisted of Grove playing the video questions about private property, states' rights, and abolishing the IRS, among other subjects, and Paul responding over the course of 10 minutes. While online video can sometimes favor the short and witty rather then the long and detailed, the interview is an example of voters and politicians using the medium for a longer-form, more involved relationship.

In Case You Missed It...

David All finds two new videos slamming Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, and Fred Thompson, and wonders who's behind them.