I know I’m late to the party on this one, but I couldn’t resist highlighting this strange performance by Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson. For an actor he doesn’t half bob his head up and down an awful lot!
Others have commented elsewhere about the extreme length of this video and I’m inclined to agree. I usually insist on watching these things in their entirety, but at over 15 minutes long it was simply impossible. Maybe if I was a diehard FredHead I would have stuck it out?! I’d be interested to hear from anyone who was engaged enough to watch the whole thing and why?
After watching more of Thompson’s videos, I’m struggling to understand why people think he’s so charismatic. I just don’t think it comes across in his videos. If anything he seems awkward and uncomfortable with being thrust into the spotlight.
I missed this back in July (hattip PrezVid), but this is a very simple and effective way of engaging voters. Obama was not the first presidential candidate to use Yahoo Answers! That honor goes to Hillary Clinton. However, he did take the engagement process a step further.
The benefits are threefold:
The lady Obama spoke to is now almost certainly a committed Obama activist.
It demonstrates Obama’s openness and willingness to talk directly to voters, reinforcing the message that his is a genuine grassroots campaign.
Obama may also have picked up a few useful ideas to incorporate into his policy platform, the ‘Wisdom of Crowds’ in action.
Imagine if a candidate committed themselves to making one of these calls each day? The novelty would soon wear off, but the commitment to regularly engaging activists openly and honestly could have a lasting impact.
If like me you’ve never been to Iowa, let alone witnessed the Ames Straw Poll, you’ll really enjoy watching YouTube evangelist, entrepreneur and aspiring journalist, James Kotecki’s coverage of this unique event.
Working as a freelance journalist for the inside-the-beltway paper, Politico.com, James brings his own individual style of political punditry to Iowa, providing behind the scenes coverage, interviews with several candidates and analysis from the Politico’s Chief Political Correspondent, Roger Simon, and Republican Blogger/Reporter, Jonathan Martin.
James’ irreverent coverage is refreshing and provides an excellent insight into what goes into winning the straw poll. I still can’t quite believe so many people travel from across Iowa to vote (yes, I know the candidates bus many voters in, although apparently Gov. Mike Huckabee didn’t), a sure sign of the strength of democracy in the US.
Here’s a taster for you from when James first arrived at the Iowa State Fair:
To see the full series of videos visit JamesKotecki.com. They start on August 10th.
Funny viral videos featuring American politicians are nothing new. However, they have mostly lampooned politicians and not one has been created by a politician themselves. Consciously creating humorous viral video is very hard. Could Democrat presidential candidate Bill Richardson be the first? 88,456 views, 260 comments, 15 honors on YouTube later and still going strong…
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