When the technology of YouTube first came on in 2006, it was great that we could see uncensored moments of our politicians. We all know the “macaca” moment that dug George Allen’s political grave. This guy was considered a favorite among conservatives for 2008 but thanks to YouTube he is totally damaged goods. I totally enjoyed the gaffes made my senator Conrad Burns on the campaign trail. His statement “The president has a plan but he is not going to tell you–” makes me laugh every time I remember it. It was refreshing to get a peek into a politicians personality. This was great because we got to see our leaders when they were least guarded and handled. I think it was a victory for the people.

Politicians were new to this technology in ‘06 but now they know it is out there. Now they have their handlers telling them what to say every waking moment. What is the next step, maybe acting classes for politicians so that what they say appears authentic. This is the downside of YouTube. In the 2008 we are going to see more programmed politicians. I was very impressed by the Obama speech in 2004 Democratic convention. After that he has been a very impressive personality but now that he is considering a 2008 run I fear that he might become programmed as well. Hilary is already very programmed and with the YouTube mania she is going to be the winner of the most robotic candidate if there was any poll on those lines. I am just hoping that the 2008 contenders get over the fact that there is a YouTube and start focusing on the issues and be true to their beliefs. Careful as you are there is always a chance of a verbal gaffe here and there and politicians must understand that people are forgiving as long as the intent is not malicious. Joe Biden mis spoke but he owned up to the fact that he was not artful in complimenting his colleague; it was a 6-8hr story and it was gone. Joe Biden was forgiven (he is still a long shot in 2008 race) but George Allen could never get out of his gaffe because he made lame excuses and came with an apology three weeks late. The damage was done. The apology did not matter. If politicians become too tightly wound just to avoid an embarrassing YouTube moment; people will see through it and it may work against them. So the ‘08 contenders must accept that there is a YouTube; should use it to their best advantage and be as real as he/she can be. With the YouTube this realism and personality of a candidate can be on everyone’s computer and can work as a tremendous campaign advantage.

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2007 at 5:46 pm and is filed under Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.