LAT: Political "trackers": a foe's gaffes can land on YouTube in a flash

[DeepModem Mom]

Political 'Tracker' Is Looking for Err Time
Video cameras are now a valued campaign tool. A foe's gaffes can land on YouTube in a flash.
By Sam Howe Verhovek, Times Staff Writer
October 12, 2006

....Trackers — using inexpensive hand-held cameras and having the ability to post clips almost instantly on YouTube and other video-sharing websites — have become a major element in several campaigns.

The most notable tracker moment this year came in Virginia when Republican Sen. George Allen used the word "macaca" to describe his Democratic tracker, a 20-year-old Indian American man.

Allen's critics say the word was a racial insult; Allen says it was a "made-up word" that intended no offense. The senator nonetheless apologized, and the issue dominated news coverage of the campaign for days.

In some ways, the work of trackers is not new. Opposing campaigns have long followed what the other guy was saying, trolling for a slip or worse....But back then, opposing campaigns had to either persuade the news media to pick it up or invest in a campaign ad to get their message on the air, said Michael Cornfield, vice president at ElectionMall.com, a nonpartisan campaign-technology firm.

With YouTube and related technologies, publicizing material now is much less cumbersome — and less expensive....

***

Although candidates of both parties post their television advertisements on YouTube, the Democrats appear more inclined — so far — to use the technology....(V)ideo of (Senator Conrad Burns, R., Montana) getting sleepy — taped by (tracker Kevin) O'Brien on his Sony Handycam camcorder and dubbed "Conrad Burns' Naptime" — has been watched more than 75,000 times....

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-trackers12oct12,0,4577506.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

1. K & R, and I haven't read the whole article, yet. Looks like fair analysis

MKJ

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. OMG, great quote from article...LOL. Burns's spokesman has this to

say about the fact that their candidate keeps getting caught in gaffes that show up on You Tube, vs. the Dem's candidate (Jon Tester) who isn't giving the R's much material:

It's fair to say that their campaign is more into YouTube than ours is," said Jason Klindt, a Burns spokesman.

MKJ