This week on Science Friday, we're discussing the role of the web in the 2008 presidential race. MySpace recently launched the "Impact Channel," an area on the site dedicated to politics and the 2008 election. YouTube created "YouChoose", a place for the candidates to post video about themselves. And although the primaries are still many months away, efforts by politicians and private citizens to use the Internet to shape the presidential election are well underway: below are a few political videos we found on YouTube this week.

A video attacking Hillary Clinton mixes footage from a 1984 Super Bowl ad run by Apple (which was based on George Orwell's 1984) with Clinton's speeches. The clip has been viewed close to 2 million times according to YouTube. CNN reports that the video's creator worked for a consulting firm with ties to the Obama campaign but made the video privately. The video to the far right is a counter-attack by a Clinton supporter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An anti-Edwards video pairs footage of John Edwards being groomed with the song "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story. This was the only political video by the video's creator, who goes by "RogerRmjet" on YouTube.

In the video on the far right, Edwards is asked at NPR member station WNYC about whether YouTube is good for politics and what he thinks about the "I Feel Pretty" video.

Politicians are posting their own videos directly on YouTube's new "YouChoose" channel, reserved only for videos from the 2008 presidential hopefulls.

This first video to the right, from Senator John McCain, has been viewed more than 23,000 and "favorited" 14 times. The next, dubbed "HillCast: Roadmap Out of Iraq," has more than 30,000 views and was"favorited" 42 times the last time we checked.

Regular citizens are using YouTube to sound off on the presidential candidates.

In the first video to the right, YouTube user "GeorgeLikesTacos" explains why he, a Republican, favors Democrat Barack Obama.

In the next, "EmergencyCheese" uses a YouTube to critique Rudy Giuliani's YouTube videos.

 

 

 

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