They’re using YouTube

If either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama becomes the next president of the United States (and trends indicate that these Democrats are way ahead of their Republican rivals), the winner at the hustings will have to add one more name to their “Thank you” list — YouTube.

On January 11, the Washington-based Pew Research Center reported that a 24 per cent of all Americans now regularly depend on the Internet to get their campaign news, and sites such as You Tube heavily influence their final decision on who to vote for, especially the undecided voters. In 2000, that figure was just 9 per cent.

The strongest contenders in this year’s campaign — Democrats Obama, Clinton and John Edwards; and Republicans John McCain, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney — all have strategically planned video campaigns, online blogs, chat sessions, etc. In fact, Obama — who could become the first black president of the US — launched his presidential bid on YouTube.