My friend Micah Sifry will be on Wolf Blitzer's Situation Room on CNN and on CBS Evening News talking about a new anti-Hillary ad that was posted on YouTube a few weeks ago by an anonymous person with whom Sifry has been in contact. The ad used an old sci-fi-ish Apple computer commercial to turn Hillary Clinton (who is mouthing empty rhetoric) into a Big Brother-like leader who is destroyed by a single courageous woman. At the end, a message appears on the screen, "On January 14th, the Democratic primary will begin. And you'll see why 2008 won't be like '1984.'" Then another message emerges: BarackObama.com.

This is not an official campaign ad, but it has certainly gotten around, drawing nearly 1 million views as of this morning. And here's the meta-point: is this ad an omen of a new sort of media politics? What happens when practically anyone can make an attack ad and place it on YouTube--and can do so anonymously? This could change the usual dialogue, as witty and engaging ads (or over-the-top screams) catch fire. The good news: here's a role for citizen input in what has traditionally been a top-down endeavor: politicians speak, you listen. There is a down side: no accountability. Imagine Swift Boat-like ads that spread false information about a candidate that cannot be tied to a specific campaign or a political action campaign. The YouTube revolution can modernize smear campaigns. No need for whispers and faxes (Remember how the Bushies slammed John McCain in South Carolina during the 2000 campaign.) Now, high-tech means can be put to use to poison politics.

So the song remains the same. A technology advance can be a force for good or bad, as the brave new world continues along.

Posted by David Corn at March 20, 2007 11:56 AM