Want to be President? Step 1: Buy a Video Camera January 4, 2007
Democrat John Edwards has gotten a lot of attention in the blogosphere for announcing his candidacy for President on YouTube. A little more quietly, another candidate, Democrat Tom Vilsack, has launched a video blog over on blip.tv (via WP Post IT blog).
Here’s one of his recent posts where he talks about “the power of the Internet to enable conversation between voters and candidates.”
Sounds like he’s been reading Doc Searls, Scoble, etc, huh?
During the 2006 cycle, lots of campaigns had staffers blogging but very few candidates wrote blog entries themselves. I think it is difficult for candidates to find the time to blog. And even if they do find the time, rarely can a candidate pull off the right tone. Blogging well requires a serious time investment. It’s just not a good fit for candidates. Better to have a staffer or consultant do it.
Video blogging, on the other hand, plays to candidate’s strengths. They meet and connect with voters every day. Video blogging is a natural extension of that skill. Bill Clinton would have made a great video blogger.
I’d look for just about every 2008 Presidential hopeful to do some form of video blogging.
