Thread: Attention Hunter and Tancredo fans that use YouTube

Originally Posted by MW

tancredo fan wrote:

GovernorWatts is now blocking Tancrdo supporters from posting about his video.

I assume he's also blocking Hunter fans because my post never showed up.

That's good information to know.

Originally Posted by MW

tancredo fan wrote:

GovernorWatts is now blocking Tancrdo supporters from posting about his video.

I assume he's also blocking Hunter fans because my post never showed up.

I believe that we can post at the site of the original debate video.

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/153352.html

Daniel Weintraub: Online debate is window into the political future
By Daniel Weintraub -
Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, April 12, 2007
Story appeared in EDITORIALS section, Page B7

Print | E-Mail | Comments (1)

Bryan Barton has taken it upon himself to drag the Republican Party kicking and screaming into the Internet age. And he's just immodest enough to think he can pull it off.

Barton this week posted on YouTube.com what he calls the "first online debate" of the 2008 presidential election. Even if you have little interest in the views of Reps. Duncan Hunter of San Diego County and Tom Tancredo of Colorado -- two Republican congressmen widely considered to be second tier candidates in that race -- you might consider spending 10 minutes watching what Barton has produced.

He just might be onto something.

Barton's debate is about as far as you can get from the stodgy, programmed, often boring exchanges in which politicians typically engage while running for president. It's short, features only three questions, and is edited with an irreverent tone and a video game motif that is an obvious attempt to draw a younger audience.

"The point of putting up an online video is to get people to watch it," Barton, 26, a Sacramento native and UC San Diego graduate, told me. "We wanted to make something entertaining for younger people, online-savvy people. We wanted it to be both informative and entertaining."

Entertaining might be too kind a word to describe the result. But it is different.

The debate opens with a welcome from Barton, then quickly cuts to the 45-second opening statements of the candidates, which were recorded separately in their offices.

From there we go to the border near Jacumba, in the desert outside San Diego. The camera spots Barton on the far side of a fence. He hops the fence, says he has just "illegally immigrated" into the United States, and asks the candidates what they are going to do about the issue. The candidates, having been asked the question in their offices but not having seen the set-up Barton recorded for the segment, answer.

Next we cut to another remote location, where a Barton associate is firing off several shots from a semiautomatic rifle at a practice target.

"I'm from a small town," he says. "And like in any small town, we like our big guns. So my question to you is, what is your opinion of gun control?"

The final question comes from a San Diego businessman whose company produces themed parties for college students and fundraisers. After several failed takes, he finally gets out his question, which has words bleeped out.

He wants to know what the candidates are going to do for small business.

Among and between these segments, Barker stops the action randomly and jumps into the show, commenting on the answers or adding another thought.

After each set of answers, a screen shows mug shots of the candidates against a graphical background and sound track reminiscent of a 1970s video game.

Barton calls himself a "South Park Republican" -- someone who is "very conservative on economic issues but can also enjoy having fun with friends."

The Republican Party, he says, "does not understand Web 2.0" -- the name the technology crowd has given to the idea of Web sites that not only provide content but are also interactive.

"Everything has to be rethought," said Barton, who ran for Congress last year and says he has more "MySpace" friends in San Diego -- people who sign up to visit his Web site -- than all of the Republican presidential candidates combined have in the entire country.

"Politics is becoming more of a two-way conversation. As it should be. Stuff can't just go one way, the way television and newspapers have always done it. People need to participate in the political process, instead of being told something."

To demonstrate that potential, Barton gave an early copy of his debate video to a friend and aspiring comedian, Daniel Watts. Watts, who comes off as a Web- savvy younger version of libertarian humorist P.J. O'Rourke, remixed the video and added himself as a commentator, challenging the candidate's answers as they went along and then, at the end, picking a winner.

Barton promises more videos down the road. If the other, more established candidates see the first video, they might want no part of the project. But if Barton can get the virus going and draw enough viewers, even the major candidates might want a piece of the action.

The great thing, though, is that Barton does not really need their cooperation. With a little digging, he could probably track down video clips of all the candidates speaking about their views and answering questions.

Then, with some creative editing, he could produce a "debate" without the candidates even consenting. He could even remix the next official Republican debate aired on C-Span -- and probably get a lot more viewers than the original.

And that's the point. Whether Barton's project goes anywhere or sputters coming out of the gate does not really matter. What he is doing shows how anyone can use the Web to take control of the campaign away from the candidates. Increasingly, I think, that is going to be the future of politics.

Here's the debate video:


About the writer:
The Bee's Daniel Weintraub can be reached at (916) 321-1914 or at dweintraub@sacbee.com. Readers can see his blog about health care at www.sacbee.com/healthcare.

Originally Posted by tancredofan

Originally Posted by BearFlagRepublic

I won't bother posting. That Watts guy repeats every globalist lie that the media trumpets. Can't really tell where he stands. Is he a Dem? Sounded like it a couple times. But his views about American jobs are as pro-corporate and anti-American worker as you can get. "Pay double for everything without illegals." Absolute BS. I know of a little harvard economist that would take serious issue with that. And his views about Americans not taking the jobs illegals would leave behind--for descent wages-- are absolute BS. As are his strawman attacks about "deporting 12 million people." He needs to learn something about economics, as well as the position of his oposition. He's like a neo-liberal. A liberal who is in favor of globalism and just simply hates our country.

BTW, anyone ever take Tyson? I KO'd him in the first round one time
I'd like to get Watts in the ring. We should find a way to lure him here, so we can kick his @$$.

He posted a comment stating that his views are libertarian.

Maybe we need to introduce him to Mr. Paul

What a jerk this guy is, not worth our attention!

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

What a jerk this guy is, not worth our attention!

I know. I had an itch to get on there and really dress him down. I mean he is wrong about everything. I can prove it with verifiable sources. And everyone gets on there and tells him how right on he is

I should just take a deep breath, realise we are right, and let the morons be morons, right SOSAD?

Originally Posted by BearFlagRepublic

Originally Posted by SOSADFORUS

What a jerk this guy is, not worth our attention!

I know. I had an itch to get on there and really dress him down. I mean he is wrong about everything. I can prove it with verifiable sources. And everyone gets on there and tells him how right on he is

I should just take a deep breath, realise we are right, and let the morons be morons, right SOSAD?

You got Bear!! you are absolutly right!!