Election '06: YouTube's Still Got Political Video Upperhand

Any political candidate with a clue is using YouTube as a second online home to distribute video ads, event footage and the like. There’s a new site that aims to be a one-stop shop for this stuff called The People Choose 2006. It’s affiliated with LinkTV, a channel featuring international current events and educational programming (which, if you’re a current events geek like me you’ve probably watched).

One cool thing about the site is it categorizes all candidate videos by state. The thing is, the site doesn’t feature all the video that’s out there. Video services firm Jumpcut.com, which was justacquired by Yahoo, is a tech partner of the site.

I took a quick trip around the site, searching for videos from candidates in Jerz, the state where I hang my hat. When I visit the New Jersey page, there are only a couple videos from one congressional candidate available. Meanwhile, I can go to YouTube and search on “Menendez” and come up with a
slew of videos – commercials, etc. – featuring the Dem senator. There is also a bunch of video clips shining a bad light on his Republican opponent, Tom Kean, Jr.

So, unless sites like The People Choose can get their acts together and truly provide a comprehensive catalog of everything out there, I expect YouTube to remain the top spot for campaign video this election season.