Click here to watch "Words."

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words... can get you in a pretty big mess too. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain is up with a new Web ad today that attacks Democratic rival Barack Obama for his decision to opt out of the public finance system. The ad, called "Words," uses Obama's against him in an attempt to show that the Illinois senator flip-flopped on his position supporting the system.

The spot highlights various speeches and interviews Obama has given, including those where he pledged to work with the Arizona senator, as well as the video message he sent out informing supporters of his decision to forgo public financing. The ad repeats a clip of Obama saying "don't tell me words don't matter" while displaying various media reports chastising him for his change in positions.

Even though the two raised roughly even amounts of money in May, Obama has continually surpassed McCain in his fundraising efforts, which could help explain some of his reasoning for opting out. With his campaign raising a record-breaking amount nearing $300 million so far -- far more than the meager $84 million specified in the public finance system -- clearly Obama doesn't need the taxpayer help.

As the first presidential primary of the YouTube era nears its end, wonks may wonder which Web spots -- from both candidates and third parties -- have had the most impact on voters. The influence of online videos can be difficult to measure, but some independent developers have created tools that aim to contextualize Web video-watching trends and compare the resonance of different releases.

One such application, TimeTube, sorts YouTube videos based on a particular search term and charts them onto a timeline according to viewership. The more times the video has been watched, the larger its thumbnail appears onscreen.

Querying the three presidential candidates reveals that many of the most-watched videos are attack ads and embarrassing clips. For example, a satirical song criticizing John McCain's statements on Iraq and Iran is given prominence on his timeline because of its more than 1.6 million views. (His campaign's most-watched official Web release -- a 16-second clip of Bill Clinton praising McCain -- garnered fewer than a quarter as many hits.)

Searching for other politicians yields similarly negative results. "I'm particularly fond of Eliot Spitzer's TimeTube, which provides a nice contrast between his cheery political ads and the infamous Client Number 9 debacle," Jason Kincaid wrote at TechCrunch. While Kincaid questions the value of indexing videos based on when they were uploaded -- rather than the actual date of the footage -- TimeTube's system has the advantage of showing how old video clips are sometimes resurrected during a campaign, as when CBS excavated footage in response to Hillary Rodham Clinton's inaccurate recollection of a 1996 visit to Bosnia.

Continue reading "Putting Web Video Into Perspective" »

Last week, John McCain released more ads than both of his well-funded Democratic rivals combined -- on the Internet, at least.

To complement his biographical campaign tour, which began last Monday, the Arizona senator released a new Web-only video almost daily in an effort to set the tone for that day's news coverage, frame his scheduled events and speeches and pick up earned media by getting free replay on cable news. More broadly, the tour and Web campaign are part a larger effort to define McCain's candidacy while his opponents remain stalemated for the Democratic nomination and third-party attack groups find themselves temporarily starved for cash.

Continue reading "Who's Watching McCain's Bio Ads?" »

Click here to watch "Ready."

Call it the Swift Boat reflex. As an indication of the speed at which presidential contenders now feel compelled to respond to attacks, consider that it took less than six hours for John McCain to release a Web ad rebutting Hillary Rodham Clinton's latest TV spot in Pennsylvania, which portrays him as an unfit steward of the national economy.

Using the same footage as Clinton's ad -- with a shot of a steely-eyed McCain tacked on to the end -- "Ready" opens with the now-familiar line, "It's 3 a.m., and your children are safe and asleep." It then goes on to blast both Clinton and Barack Obama for their economic proposals, saying "they'd solve the problem by raising your taxes. More money out of your pocket. John McCain has a better plan: Grow jobs. Grow our economy, not grow Washington."

Continue reading "McCain Returns Clinton's Call" »