YouTube Reviews - Republicans, Part I

Since this entire blog was started as a class assignment for my Media and Politics class, I figure that it's high time I start looking deeper into the connection between those two concepts. Thus, it's time for a new project.

What does that mean right now, you ask?

It's time to review the candidates' YouTube sites.

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll be featuring video samples and reviews of the YouTube offerings from each of the 17 remaining presidential hopefuls. As a new form of direct politcal communication, I have a feeling that the usefulness of these videos goes far beyond their scripted content. What do they tells us about the candidates and their campaigns? Why, let's find out.

(Before we begin, I'd like to thank the fine people at TechPresident.com for sparking my interest in the topic and providing some hard numbers to work with. Also, as a show of good faith, I've decided to let the Republicans go first.)

REPUBLICANS, PART I - THE STATISTICAL OUTLIERS!

It's a cold, hard fact of political campaigns: in a crowded field of candidates, not everyone gets equal face time. Sometimes, they lack name recognition. Other times, they're completely batshit loco. With no realistic chance of actually winning the nomination, these candidates are often looked upon with a mixture of pity and morbid curiousity. And yet, they soldier on, and in great numbers. For every glamour candidate like Mitt Romney or Fred Thompson, there are two schmendriks like Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter skulking listlessly in the wings, waiting patiently for their time to shine.

That time, of course, is today.

FACT FILE: DUNCAN HUNTER

ACCOUNT NAME: GoHunterGo
NUMBER OF VIDEOS: 20
NUMBER OF SUBSCRIBERS: 695
TOTAL CHANNEL VIEWS: 372,889
TOTAL VIDEO VIEWS: 425,979

Rep. Duncan Hunter(R-CA)'s YouTube channel tells the tale of a man who appears to be one more failed straw poll away from packing in this whole president nonsense and heading home to America's Finest City for some reflection, soul-searching, and fish tacos.

Though Hunter saw some early success in the nascent stages of the campaign, he's basically fallen off the map in terms of legitimate candidacy, and his YouTube content reflects that in a big way. In fact, his site features all of the hallmarks of surrender: no one from Hunter's staff has logged in for almost a month, the last content update came in July, and the total number of clips is the lowest of all candidates by over 40 videos. If I'm wrong, and this is Hunter's idea of some kind of passive success strategy, he may be a genius. If I'm not, he may be off the ballots.

In terms of content, Hunter's videos are mostly of the position paper/debate clip variety. The videos focus simply on getting Hunter's own politcal beliefs out into the open, eschewing the humanizing, personal insights and fiesty saber-rattling found in some of his fellow candidates. He also manages to call Ann Coulter a "a very articulate spokeswoman for the conservative view", which should win him points with... well, Ann Coulter. Maybe.





Blogosphere shotouts aside, Hunter's videosaren't going to wow audiences any time soon. The low number, coupled with the rudimentary focus, renders the videos ineffective outside the "getting to know you" phase. Devoting an obviously limited interest to such a narrow focus might suggest that, in reality, people might just not be listening.

Tune in tomorrow for the second half of Part I, featuring Mr. Hunter's fellow unlikely candidate, and the field's resident glassy-eyed nutball, Tom Tancredo.