Senate candidates on YouTube
October 4th, 2007 – 6:57 PM by Dennis J. McGrathAl Franken had some good news to report Thursday. So how did he get the word out?
YouTube.
Al Franken
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We’ve seen politicians routinely announce their candidacies on YouTube, instead of at a speech/press conference on the lawn in front of their humble childhood home. We’ve seen them use YouTube to tap into popular culture, as Hillary Rodham Clinton did with her search for a campaign theme song. And we’ve seen Mike Gravel take this rock and toss — well, you tell me what that one’s about. Whatever it is, it’s here.
And now they’re using YouTube to make news, as Franken did by announcing his third-quarter fundraising totals, which exceeded Sen. Norm Coleman’s collections. As the Franken campaign announced on its website: “We released our numbers a little differently this time around — check out our Q3 video to see how well Al did…” Franken’s video is here. And our Washington correspondent Kevin Diaz’s story is here.
So it’s time to take a quick accounting of how the 2008 U.S. Senate candidates are doing on YouTube by looking at the activity on their channels. (Note: Spellings are as their channels appear on YouTube. Numbers are as of 6 p.m. Thursday.)
ciresiforsenate
Joined: May 2007
Last time logged in: 1 month ago
Videos posted: 32
Most viewed video: 494 views
Subscribers to his channel: 7
Channel views: 562
His channel is here.
ColemanforSenate
Joined: April 2007
Last time logged in: 3 weeks ago
Videos posted: 4
Most viewed video: 494 views (Yes, the exact same number as Ciresi.)
Subscribers to his channel: 19
Channel views: 913
His channel is here.
FrankenForSenate
Joined: February 2007
Last time logged in: Thursday morning
Videos posted: 16
Most viewed video: 164,360 views
Subscribers to his channel: 544
Channel views: 7,432
His channel is here.
Two other candidates, Democrats Jim Cohen and Dick Franson don’t have YouTube channels.
How do you rate the candidates in their use of YouTube? Aside from the numbers, which candidate has the best videos? Which of their videos are your favorites?
4 Responses to "Senate candidates on YouTube"
People love him. He’s appealing to mass audiences. I don’t understand how people who think for themselves can say that Franken is a weak candidate for the Senate.
I think he’d be doing better than a lot of the presidential candidates if he were in that race.
I would be interesting to see comparisons among other senate candidates nationwide. I bet he is dominating among all everywhere.
It’s really important, because prime fundraising season comes after the primaries if you’re collecting $50 at a time thousands of times a day-which only happens if millions or tens of millions of people see your message. Which they will.
He’s raising more now than the incumbent and has much more earnings potential into the strech, after the nomination. If Democrats haven’t united behind Franken yet, they ought to, if they are interested in winning back Wellstone’s seat next November.
If Minnesota re-elects Coleman to a second term, voters like me who care about senority in the legislature will not vote to unseat him the next time around. On the left, it’s time to support the electable candidate.
Favorables and unfavorables are a matter of 1) party preference and 2) education. 30 percent of his unfavorable is the GOP base. the remaining 20 or whatever is soft - they haven’t read his books and they’re buying right wing spin.
Money allows you to broadcast your message, charisma allows you to make it stick, and Franken has both.
So yes, it was a good news day for Franken.
People love him?
According to stats, most “people” don’t know who the hell he is.
Get serious.
Money allows you to broadcast your message, charisma allows you to make it stick, and Franken has both.
Yeah,
A splendid observation that worked well for Air America.
While it is obvious that candidates are incredibly comfortable pushing their messages through YouTube, it does not mean it is entirely effective. Most of Mr. Franken’s latest videos have been viewed less than 2,000 times. That is not nearly as far-reaching as an article in the newspaper or a story on TV. Just take a look at Ciresi’s and Coleman’s videos, which are generating less than 100 views per; hardly the vehicle of mass communication that is necessary for a statewide campaign.
The fact is that candidates use YouTube because it’s cheap and gives them 100 percent control over their messages, but unfortunately it will be a long time before it replaces the 30-second TV advertisement.