Obama, YouTube, Goosebumps

Has a political speech ever given you goosebumps? A campaign song? An ad? A candidate?

How about all four?

("Yes We Can" by will.i.am and many others.)
This video inspires goosebumps and joy, while leaving us feeling empowered to take our country back and make a difference. It illustrates, in an incontrovertible manner, the power of excellent rhetoric delivered by a master of the craft.

It wins votes.

And isn't that the basic goal of all political advocacy? Isn't that the holy grail of online organization? In 2008, we may realize the full political power of the YouTube generation.

If the quintessential YouTube political video of 2004 was Eminem's "Mosh," and 2006 was "Macaca," then "Yes We Can" stands tall as essential YouTube video of 2008. We can watch the maturation and transformation of political advocacy online in these three videos, and see the potential that we may be in the middle of unleashing this year.

Eminem's "Mosh" stands as an angry rant (complete with "F$%k Bush!") against the status quo, with advocacy to vote for change - any change. In 2004, YouTube was still finding its footing, the youth of America were still learning the power they possessed with online organizing and social networking. Here is what kid oakland had to say on DailyKos at the time.

And it is critical that the video, even when it is depicting the hooded "mosh mobs"...is very clearly about something other than violence and acting out rage. Just because it uses that vocabulary and visual palette, does not mean its audience will not fully understand that it is not about that. In fact, I'd argue that that is part of the point of Mosh.....to take its audience from a world of juvenile fantasy that plays off their dystopic feelings...to a more thoughtful and programatic response to what they are experiencing in the real world. In effect, Eminem is using Grand Theft Auto and Fight Club to bring his viewers out of inchoate rage and anger, and showing them how to create a more thoughtful, strategic, coordinated response. A political response. - kid oakland, DailyKos

It is almost as if "Mosh" was the online manifestation of the line young voters grew up with, "this sucks, change it!"

Two years later, online video and online politics had matured. By 2006, the blogosphere had coalesced into a "legitimate" agent for change in Washington, and young voters had internalized the impact that their government had on their lives. In 2006, for the first time in more than 20 years, the turnout among young voters increased as a percentage of their population.

According to census data, Della Volpe says, there were more votes cast by those under 30 than those over 65 in 2004. While all the numbers are not in from 2006, youthful voter participation will likely be higher than in any midterm election in history. In at least two critical U.S. Senate races there is compelling evidence that younger voters made the difference in electing Democrats. David King, a Harvard professor who specializes in voting patterns, has done an extensive analysis of the George Allen-Jim Webb race in Virginia and the Conrad Burns-Jon Tester contest in Montana. King looked closely at voting patterns in precincts clustered around college campuses in both states. His conclusion is that younger voters pushed both Webb (D-Va.) and Tester (D-Mont.) over the top, giving control of the Senate to Democrats in the process. (Remember, former Sen. George Allen’s “macaca” gaffe would have been ignored were it not for college students launching a viral campaign on YouTube.) - Ben Goddard, The Hill

In the middle of the 2006 campaign, another YouTube video galvanized the nation. The "Macaca" incident allowed young people to target the anger and angst represented in 2004's "Mosh." The younger generation is the most ethnically diverse in history. Members have more friends across groups than any generation who has gone before. Bigotry is more than a sin to them, it is anathema. It is grounds for absolute repudiation of the bigot and all he stands for. The Macaca Moment was caused by and capitalized on by young voters. It channeled money and energy into Jim Webb's campaign, and in the end, made the difference. A YouTube video had definitively affected the outcome of an election.

In 2008 we have "Yes, We Can." From the diffuse ranting of Eminem to the "gotcha" video of Macaca, we now come to the realization of what and online, viral meme can be. This video does not channel unexpressable rage, it does not play "gotcha" with a member of the established party, it sets out a clear philosophy of governance - to music. Already, it is reproduced widely and enjoys a status as a main post on countless blogs. It may be for America today what "Get up, Stand up" was to Jamaica in a previous generation.

Only time will tell whether the outcomes of primaries and elections in 2008 were influenced by a canticle chant of "Yes We Can" put over a beat from Atlanta, but won't it be exciting to find out?

Yes, We Can.

(With a tip-o-the-hat to The Guru, The Richmond Democrat, RaisingKaine, Hope08, kid oakland, and many others too numerous to name.)