The joys and perils of Internet campaign videos
This election season, video Websites are breathing new life into political campaign commercials whether politicians like it or not.
Probably the most famous ad is from Tennessee. The Republican National Committee created the ad against Democratic Senate Candidate Harold Ford, Jr. Republicans later pulled it from television after complaints it played to racist fears. Harold Ford, Jr. Is African American.
But the ad lives on and on and on since it made its way onto YouTube. The grassroots video sharing Website has become so popular that Google just bought it for $1.65 billion.
Julie Barko Germany is Deputy Director for the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet at George Washington University. She says this election season, online video is hot and YouTube has become the go-to site for the good, the bad, and the ugly of political campaign commercials.
