Was watching CNN while working out at the gym, and was amazed to see that people are STILL talking about the Hillary Clinton Sopranos-parody video. (If you're one of the 17 people left who still haven't seen it, click the previous link.)
The all-news network called this "The start of the YouTube Campaign," but the way I see it, the medium is not the message here.
Frankly, this is the start of something even bigger.
This is the start
of the
SURPRISE
CAMPAIGN
Think about it. YouTube and politicians is almost old hat. John Edwards used it to announce his candidacy, and in the process, nearly anesthetized half the nation. Politicians of all stripes all over the earth are not just using YouTube, they're MIS-USING YouTube by polluting it with the same ol' crapola they use on stump speeches in Kiwanis Clubs and community halls. They are falling victim to what Marshall McLuhan bemoaned as imposing "Form of the old on content of the new." Wow! Another talking head saying things I don't believe!
So back to Hillary's video. Love it, hate it, be embarrassed by it...who cares? At least people are talking about what Hilary and Bill did. It was a complete shock, Pow! to the second power by not just doing something unexpected, but by linking it to one of the great pop culture moments of all time.
So, as FOPs know well, this COULD be the start of something big. Everyone is mumbling the classic Battle Cries of Surprise, "Well, I Never" and "What Will They Think of Next?" I guarantee the folks over at the Barack Obama headquarters are running around like the proverbial headless chickens planning their next move; most likely "Let's do a funky YouTube video, too!"
But pretty soon, parody YouTube videos from politicians will be old hat. Been there, done that, linked to the URL. And it'll be up to someone to shock the system once again.
The world is bored with the standard political process. They 're nonplussed by those tacky attack ads, don't believe the promises, and are bored by the speeches. No wonder voting levels are in a fast downward spiral.
The only thing left to wake us up from this coma is a Surprise. Or, more effectively, a continual flow of them.
What Hillary did was change the game. You probably don't see this now, but this is as seismic a shift as the televising of the Nixon-Kennedy debates.
Mark my words. And come see me in a few years.