(This is an article I had to write for my Foundations of Journalism class. It’s really nothing special, the absurd amount of school work I’ve had the past few weeks really kept me from putting my heart and soul into it. I haven’t posted anything in a few days so I thought I’d put athis up.)

Campaign 2.0: Candidates turn to the Inaternet to capture votes
By: Ben Kessler

In quite possibly one of the most heated candidacy battles of all time, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are doing whatever it takes to secure their chance to take on John McCain for the White House. For the first time in history a black man is challenging a white woman for the Democratic nomination.

Knowing the “perceived” weaknesses brought on by these attributes, the two are gunning more than ever for the most open-minded demographic out there – young voters. So how does one’s campaign get the oh-so-coveted 18-25 population to the polls? There is one key to the hearts and minds of the young crowd and it’s called the Internet. But now that this Pandora’s Box has been opened, there is sharp criticism from the traditional media as to whether or not this “fervor” or “buzz” will actually convert to votes.

The television networks and other forms of mainstream media have been struggling to find ways to capture viewers like they themselves were running for office. CNN has gone so as far as to market the primaries as an intense sporting event. “Ballot Bowl” as they call it has journalists reporting in with their opinions on the candidates’ success and strategies from a studio solely built for election coverage. The flashy studio is adorned with flat screen televisions and even a huge multi-touch display to show seemingly live updated coverage from the primaries in the forms of pie charts and line graphs. Print media has been largely unsuccessful in changing their election coverage strategies, relying mostly on beefing up their online initiatives to supplement the exponential decline of newspaper and magazine readership.

Despite the exorbitant amount of money that the candidates have spent on setting up Myspace profiles, Facebook groups and lawn signs in Second Life, it is actually the user-generated content that has propelled this election to another level. Quite possibly one of the most talked about figures in the media today is “Obama Girl” a character that is the brainchild of Internet advertising and marketing veteran Ben Relles. His first video featuring Obama girl entitled I Got a Crush… on Obama has received over six million views on YouTube and propelled Relles into a media whirlwind. The video, which depicts an attractive woman played by a former Miss Howard Stern TV and model, Amber Lee Ettinger, is a sensation because of its winning formula: music video style cinematography, large breasts and a slight peppering of the issues Obama hopes to tackle in the Oval Office.

When asked about his original intentions for creating the film, Relles put it simply, “I thought it would be interesting to do something around the election since everyone was talking about what a big role YouTube might play. Having seen how some people were so excited about Obama, I liked the idea of an obsessed female fan.” When pressed about whether or not he created the video to support Obama’s run for the presidency, he admitted that although he admires what he’s accomplished, the buzz around his campaign almost guaranteed to bring in many viewers.

Unfortunately a distortion field is created by these viral videos; one which has lowered the election to a mere popularity contest in the eyes of some, trying to convince young people to vote for the candidate that they believe is the hippest. Ben Relles thinks there are two sides to the video card, “It’s very powerful that an individual can create something and have it seen by millions of people days later. Some of that will make candidates look cool, some might outline the issues and be more substantial.” In early February, Will.I.Am, the front man for hip-hop group The Roots unleashed a video in support of Obama that features other celebrities including Scarlett Johansson and Herbie Hancock singing an inspiring tune using his now famous phrase “Yes We Can”. In response a video entitled Hillary 4U&Me was released supposedly from Clinton’s camp. The clip features an outdated sounding tune, catchy at sometimes but plain cheesy in the eyes of the 18-25 demographic with spliced footage of Hillary campaigning at the primary cities. Some speculate that the video was not actually released by the Clinton campaign but instead by an impostor who intended to ruin her credibility with the younger crowd.

The relatively new medium of online video is significantly more successful in capturing the attention of voters who typically don’t follow election coverage. Diba Ahmed, a 21-year-old college student explains that the majority of information she reads about the election comes from the Internet because that’s where she spends a lot of time catching up on e-mail and talking with friends. “I don’t read the paper or watch television too much, and I tend to spend a lot of time on blogs”, she explains. Blogs are becoming increasingly popular in reporting news and opinions on the election; whether it is a debate over the candidates’ issues or reviews of their performances at a recent rally. Others are still skeptical about getting their news from so-called bloggers. Mike Cornett, age 24 is a graphic designer at an advertising firm and only reads news from trusted sources “I prefer to use Internet versions of upstanding newspapers in order to achieve a more balanced approach.” User generated content does not necessarily need to come from someone with a strong creative background in film and video editing. Bob Costa a Political Science major at Notre Dame University explains, “The nature of political dialogue can now mean, in some ways, the emergence of a dialogue via comments on a message-board or YouTube video. These forums provide those who don’t, or can’t, create content to have a place to discuss, argue and lay-out opinions and ideas.”

In an experiment to observe the phenomenon of user-generated websites, this journalist created HillaryIsMomJeans.com, a parody of an existing site entitled BarackObamaIsYourNew Bicycle.com. The latter consists of 50 or so phrases that shed Obama in a positive light; such as “Barack Obama came to your play” and “Barack Obama Laughed at your joke.” The Hillary site on the other hand is focused on negative and somewhat demeaning phrases; however a spin was added in which users can actually submit their own phrases. The website exploded overnight with over 1.5 million visits in less than four days. As submissions poured in, it was obvious what demographic was interested in using the site. Phrases surrounding recent pop culture such as “Hillary broke your Wiimote” (referring to the Nintendo game console) and “Hillary cancelled Arrested Development” referring to the popular cult television sitcom that was taken off the air in 2003.

To this day, it has been hard to measure how the candidates themselves feel about the free marketing and press that their supporters are earning them. They typically refrain from mentioning videos like Ben Relles’ in an effort to distant themselves from being accused of creating the content themselves. This in turn sheds light on an interesting point, that voters are more hesitant to tune into advertisements paid for and sponsored by the candidates themselves, but rather hear support from their peers. An sharp growth and interest in media via the Internet is upon us and candidates will surely further leverage this medium to their advantage, hopefully without abusing it.