John McCain's YouTube problem is really becoming the elephant in the room, so to speak. Last week, an LA Times article entitled "McCain's Web gap is showing" revealed the immense chasm between McCain and Obama on YouTube, where Obama and armies of young progressives hold the obvious advantage. One of the McCain videos the article highlighted was our short film, The Real McCain 2, which presents the truth about McCain that the corporate media refuses to show.
Since we launched The Real McCain 2 less than 3 weeks ago, it has received close to 2 million views. To us, this colossal number reflects the public's thirst for accuracy when it comes to McCain's record. Moreover, it illustrates your ability to spread our message virally, which has brought this issue to the attention of mainstream outlets like the LA Times. And, by the looks of this new video from the McCain campaign, it appears as though we've caught McCain's eye as well.
It's funny because at end of the LA Times piece, James Rainey jokingly suggests that since most Hollywood luminaries are liberal and supporting Obama, McCain could counter with his own "Hollywood ace" Wilford Brimley, a McCain supporter. Well, it looks like the McCain campaign couldn't even get someone as exciting as Brimley. No, they picked campaign manager Rick Davis for what Wonkette has called "the most tragically awkward video in the history of YouTube."
Davis couldn't sound less enthusiastic as he robotically reads from cue cards. (Perhaps that's because he's more comfortable in the company of his lobbyist friends than in front of a camera.) And just what is he asking? Well, I had to watch this video about half-a-dozen times myself before I had any clue, mostly because I kept tuning out from sheer boredom.
What I think Davis is asking for though, is strikingly similar to our own Brave Nation Young Activist Award. Except we're asking you to nominate your local unsung activist hero, and Davis is creepily asking you to spy on your neighbor! HuffPo's Jason Linkins says that Davis wants people to "stalk their neighbors with video cameras, and reveal what secret Islamofascists might be walking among us. The lucky winner will be flown to the Republican National Convention to enjoy a session of "Seven Minutes In Heaven" with Larry Craig at the Minneapolis airport, and then it's off to Guantanamo Bay!"
Seriously though, is this really the best the McCampaign can do? Do they honestly hope to make McCain seem younger and hipper by making stiff-as-a-board Davis the face of the campaign? I guess they figured that the best way to combat McCain's out-of-touch, doddering image is by playing into it a little more. Or maybe they just figured using Davis would be better than going with McCain himself.