A Spicier VP Debate Hits YouTube (VIDEO)
By Ari Melber
Thursday's vice presidential debate was a serious and substantive affair. With superb moderating by Gwen Ifill, the conversation stuck to policy-driven sparring, but the footage is already taking a different shape on YouTube.
Before the debate clock had run out, spicier clips from the debate were piling up on YouTube. Two of the most passionate featured Biden, speaking about personal adversity and why the "past is prologue" when it comes to John McCain's record:
October 2, 2008
Palin's Stunning Court Ignorance (VIDEO)
By Ari Melber
Some political moments require no analysis or commentary, even from those of us who cover the madness in real time. Despite the briefings, coaching and research, behold Gov. Sarah Palin's stunning ignorance of the Supreme Court:
And don't forget that other hardball from Katie Couric, either. Palin could not name a single newspaper or magazine that she reads:
(84) CommentsOctober 1, 2008
Huge Celebrities Tout Voting on YouTube
By Ari Melber
When celebrities push their politics, it's often annoying and rarely effective. A new YouTube video, however, has the makings of the kind of viral hit that could help -- yes -- Raise Awareness for something important.
There are only about five days left to register to vote in some key states, including Ohio, Florida and Colorado, and this video features a fleet of traffic-driving A-listers urging people to register before it's too late.
The public service announcement is packed with quips from Halle Berry, Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Sarah Silverman, Forest Whitaker, Leo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Usher and Demi Moore, to name only a few. Kevin Bacon is also in the mix, you know, to keep everyone connected.
(4) CommentsOctober 1, 2008
YouTubers Ask if McCain Swore at the Big Debate?
By Ari Melber
The first presidential debate may be long over, but it's now being relived, remixed and reinterpreted online, in what could be the most influential period for YouTube politics in the current election.
Since web videos often drive broadcast news coverage and shape which exchanges are depicted as the seminal "moments" of a debate, both campaigns rushed out "advertisements" hammering their message on YouTube. McCain struck first, looping clips of Obama agreeing with his Republican rival in a video uploaded before the debate ended. Powered by links from Fox, NBC and Huffington Post, the spot drew far more views on YouTube than Obama's first video, which showed an uninterrupted, split-screen excerpt of Obama telling McCain he was "wrong" on the core issues in the Iraq war. (Both below.) While the campaigns' top-down videos have drawn the most initial attention, YouTubers' homemade projects are more interesting.
YouTuber "ebaybenjidogg" posted a 27-second shot of McCain grumbling during a tense dispute over McCain's comments regarding meeting with the prime minister of Spain -- under the provocative title "John McCain Says HORSESH*T During the 9/26 Debate." The video appears to show McCain saying "horseshit" twice in response to Obama's criticism. "I don't know why the media is ignoring this so far. If someone has a better copy of this moment on video PLEASE POST IT," reads the description accompanying the video. Some commenters rebutted that depiction, arguing that McCain was saying "of course," perhaps sarcastically, or saying "of course not." A similar clip on MSNBC.com, "Meeting with enemies," can also sound like McCain is swearing just past the 4-minute mark.
(23) CommentsSeptember 27, 2008
McCain Cuts and Runs
By Ari Melber
After calling for debates all summer, John McCain is cutting and running from the first one.
In one of the weirder political ploys of a long campaign season, McCain says he will "suspend" his campaign on Thursday. He is also pushing for a postponement of the first presidential debate. McCain says he is taking these dramatic steps because he wants to focus on congressional negotiations over the bailout. It's not clear how a national presidential debate -- the ultimate bully pulpit in this political season -- would detract from any effort to build national consensus on solutions for the economic crisis.
The debate, scheduled for 9pm EST on Friday, would have provided the first direct, extended exchange between the nominees on foreign policy, and presumably would have included economic discussions as well, given the current crisis. Both candidates could travel to Washington the next morning -- Obama is already scheduled to do so -- so McCain's decision to bail on the debate as his polling slips is odd. Today's Washington Post/ABC poll showed Obama taking a national lead, powered by voters flocking to him on economic issues.
(41) CommentsSeptember 24, 2008
McCain BlackBerry Ad Hits YouTube
By Ari Melber
As the markets crash and the bailouts pile up, John McCain's BlackBerry gaffe continues to pick up steam. News stories mentioning "McCain and BlackBerry" topped 2,300 in a 24-hour stretch ending Wednesday -- that's almost half the number of stories mentioning "McCain and A.I.G." in the same period.
It's hard to quantify the news value of the McCain campaign's odd claim that he invented the Canadian technology, of course, but it definitely ain't half as important as A.I.G. The BlackBerry claim is perfectly symbolic, however, of a campaign that has spun, prevaricated and lied through the summer -- drawing protest from opponents and neutral observers alike -- led by a candidate who is often out of touch from the economic and technological changes rocking the country. Now, fresh from the Internet, (which McCain did not invent, either), here's a new homemade ad mocking McCain's claim to techie fame:
(50) CommentsSeptember 17, 2008
Hillary and Joe Log On for Obama
By Ari Melber
On Wednesday night, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are trolling the web for women voters.
At 8pm Eastern, the Obama Campaign is broadcasting what it bills as "one of the largest women's web forums in history." Hillary and Joe will chat with women voters about "equal pay for equal work, reproductive health, expanding the Family Medical Leave Act" and Social Security, says the campaign, taking questions that were posted online over the past few days. The event even has a clunky title, "The Women for the Change We Need Week of Action Video Forum." Today the Obama Campaign is also circulating a YouTube video of a presentation from the Democratic convention about "Women for Obama."
September 17, 2008
McCain is a "Serial Shameless Liar"
By Ari Melber
Sen. John McCain's career was almost felled by accusations of cheating, and it may soon be ended by conviction for lying. McCain was cleared of wrongdoing in the Keating Five, though admonished for bad judgment, but no one will clear him of the brazen set of lies his campaign is launching with increasing frequency in the homestretch of the general election. Nothing will stop McCain's deceit, as The Nation's Ari Berman explains, so the big question is whether the truth will out in time. The Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan breaks it down today, worth quoting extensively:
Reading the "press" in this surreal climate right now, one is tempted to despair. I'm not giving in to it, because I still believe that the actual truth matters in the world. If propaganda could win in the end against truth, then Bush's approval ratings would be somewhere in the high 80s. They are in the lower 30s. In the end, the American people are not fools. And facts are facts. Right now, we are being subjected to an absolutely disorienting blizzard of lies and absurdities (Palin is a lying absurdity) from the McCain campaign...
But facts are stubborn things, as someone once said. In the end, the fact of no WMDs in Iraq is indisputable. The fact that Bush appointed a know-nothing apparatchik to deal with hurricanes is unavoidable. The fact that Bush made no serious preparations for occupying Iraq is clear as day. The fact that he and his party have added $32 trillion to the debt of the next generation is now part of the global financial system. The fact that the Bush administration effectively withdrew the United States from the Geneva Conventions and have legitimized the torture of prisoners across the world is empirically indisputable...
(113) CommentsSeptember 15, 2008
ABC News on Palin Pregnancy & Racial Bias
By Ari Melber
ABC News' Jake Tapper asks the uncomfortable question about the Palin pregnancy story. His entire post:
Just Askin'…
What would the response be if Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, and his wife Michelle had a pregnant unmarried teenage daughter?
(27) CommentsSeptember 2, 2008
Palin Addresses 17-year-old Daughter's Pregnancy
By Ari Melber
Sarah Palin, the largely unknown and unvetted Alaska Governor tapped as John McCain's running mate, spoke out today in response to blog and media rumors about her 17-year-old daughter's pregnancy. Palin, with her husband Todd, released this statement:
We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us. Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. We're proud of Bristol's decision to have her baby and even prouder to become grandparents. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support.
Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family. We ask the media to respect our daughter and Levi's privacy as has always been the tradition of children of candidates.
(47) CommentsSeptember 1, 2008
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