Fred Thompson Special, Because It's Unavoidable

• It's Fred Thompson Day! The web, the teevee, and the radio are all buzzing with news of Fred Thompson's announcement that he's officially running for president (yes, it wasn't official before). Fred showed up on the Tonight Show last night to take a few softballs from Jay Leno, and at precisely 12:01am ET he posted his 15-minute long announcement video on his new site, Fred08.com. More about that later, when I've finished watching it.
• Ok, I've finished watching it. It's a long, long video in which Fred talks quickly about why he's running ("l love my country and I'm concerned about it's future...") and gets into his background for the next six, seven, or maybe ten minutes. I shudder to think how long it would have been had he spoken more slowly. He also bobs his head up and down and rolls his shoulders as he talks, which, while it shouldn't matter, is terribly distracting. MyDD's Todd Beeton and techPresident contributor David All noticed it too. "The guy definitely knows how to connect with the camera but man, what is up with the whole head bobbing thing?" Beeton asked.
• For some, 15 minutes of fame is considered about 13 minutes too long. Over at the Washington Post's The Trail, Jose Antonio Vargas quotes strategists who agree that the length of Thompson's video is not web-friendly. "Maybe the video is aimed at the 'Law & Order' audience that's used to Branch's long speeches in the court room before commercial breaks," jokes techPresident contributor Colin Delany. Eric Livingston, who heads the online operation, has his reasons. "The senator didn't jump into the race a year ago. People haven't heard as much from him," he told Vargas.
• Delany is also sure that other members of the online campaign staff -- which includes techPresident contributor Mike Turk and Todd Zeigler of the Bivings Group -- has their reasons for the length. "Gentlemen," he wrote cheekily, "I’m sure there were Very Good Communications Reasons for putting out a fifteen-minute web video and that it will be immensely successful."
• Meanwhile, there was a Republican debate last night. Fred didn't go, of course, choosing Jay Leno over a crowded field of Republican contenders, but he was there in spirit, and in the ads. His first presidential commercial (cribbed from his announcement video) was shown during the debate, causing David All to ask, "Is this it?" To David, it seemed a little too lo-fi for a presidential candidate. "Did someone make this commercial in Microsoft MovieMaker? I'm not ripping it if so, but I recognize that lower-third from [James] Kotecki's 'early' work..." David writes.
• Fred's new site is up and running as well, and it looks pretty good. It better, since Mike Turk, critic of campaign sites for techPresident and Personal Democracy Forum, is its "chief architect." It's clean and presidential looking; it has big, recognizable buttons that ask you to join, donate, raise funds, tell a friend, host parties, and spread the word; there's a blog called the Fred File and a video channel; and other standard bells and whistles. It is missing a substantial issues page, however. Right now, the Principles page lists only Federalism.
• This whole "announcement" thing is just a little curious. Fred's already had a site, and according to the project for Excellence in Journalism, it excelled at "encouraging users and potential voters to participate in the campaign" and was among the best of the candidate sites. And as Wired's Sarah Lai Stirland notes (and our charts point out) Thompson has already had a significant presence on MySpace and Facebook and was near the top of most major polls. We'll have to wait to see if the strategy, if it was one, pays off.

The Web on the Candidates

• In a long post, MyDD blogger "psericks" takes a look at a recent techPresident piece from Jeff Commaroto, who asks if candidates' blogs aren't simply glorified public relations gimmicks, devoid of real insight. "Can bloggers be committed to a candidate and still write compelling, thoughtful posts that can command attention? Does connection to the campaign rob them of their independence and integrity?" psericks asks. Check out the comments for a good discussion that should be required reading for campaign staffers and bloggers.
• On a similarly skeptical note, Jeff Cohen, writing at the Huffington Post, notes Hillary Clinton's unbudging popularity despite the lack of netroots support and asks if the netroots are simply a paper tiger. "Despite being overwhelmingly opposed to the nomination of Hillary Clinton, the Netroots have so far done little to slow down her coronation," Cohen writes. Is it that they underestimate the damage she could do? That they are nervous about hitting a fellow Democrat too hard? Or maybe there's no unifying candidate to rally behind like Dean in 2004.
• The Washington Post has launched an awesome new tool called the Issue Coverage Tracker that visually links the candidates to media coverage of their positions on major issues like abortion, the war in Iraq, and immigration. You can click on an issue or a candidate and then easily view, by month, press coverage of the candidate and the issue. It's a welcome breath of fresh air after so much continual horse-race coverage and reporting on strategy and polls.
• Jose Vargas has also started his very own video blog. He talks about the wall between journalists, politicians, and consultants and the voters, which the Internet is helping to breach. Jose's on the cutting edge of how politics and technology intersect -- this is video blog to watch.

In Case You Missed It...

Colin Delany is writing a series about the online challenges facing candidates in 2008. Part one: is TiVo the political ad killer?