News

It was Canada's first YouTube political campaign.

The Liberal leadership race has been swept up in the cultural phenomenon that is the Internet's most popular file-swapping service — YouTube.com.

At the click of a mouse button, thousands of web surfers have accessed campaign videos cobbled together mostly by amateurs. There were highlights from televised debates, embarrassing tongue-trips, glowing testimonials and compilations of candidates' worst gaffes.

Visitors could find everything from Michael Ignatieff 's arguably contradictory policy positions on the Middle East, to blurred-out images of Bob Rae's buttocks from a CBC spoof segment.

Political parties expect YouTube's influence will only grow and plan to use it more extensively in the next federal election campaign. The Liberals want to create a special full-time unit dedicated to online projects like fundraising, voter turnout, and YouTube advertising.

"It has exploded onto the scene," says Liberal national director Steven MacKinnon.

"You have something that fundamentally didn't exist a year ago that allows for instant messaging to a large group of people — and also instant rebuttal."

YouTube.com, which was founded less than two years ago, was purchased recently by Internet giant Google for $1.65-billion (U.S.). More than 100 million clips are viewed daily on the site.

It allows anyone to be an amateur filmmaker and distributor with a simple USB camera connection, or fundamental editing software like Windows Movie Maker.

MacKinnon says it's still unclear whether YouTube videos are an effective campaign tool, or whether they merely reach diehard political junkies whose minds are already made up. But the potential long-term impact is huge.

Political parties now spend about half their campaign budgets on advertising, which means close to $10-million in each election or around $300,000 a day.

Jesse Hirsh , a Toronto technology expert and advocate of free information, managed to give Bob Rae 11 minutes of airtime using only a Nokia cellphone. He used his phone's video camera to tape an interview with Rae that about 1,200 people had viewed by Tuesday.

In the interview, Rae himself admitted he's not quite sure where the Internet will take political campaigns.

"I don't think the people who are running, like me. . . understand exactly the potential reach of the Internet," Rae said. "But there's a lot of younger people around who do. A lot of our advisers do."

Candidates' supporters used YouTube to smear their foes and cheer their favourites.

All four front-runners — Ignatieff, Rae, Gerard Kennedy and Stephane Dion — had videos trumpeting their best debate performances, public speeches, and qualifications for high office.

On the negative side, one video showed a series of unflattering pictures of Ignatieff coupled with alleged policy flip-flops — like his recent musing on Israeli "war crimes," and his announcement that he would absolutely run in the next election after saying he might not.

There's also a video that compiled some of Dion's mistakes in English and challenged his command of his second language.

The level of debate was not always very high.

There was a comments section underneath each video posting, and some of the witticisms could find an appropriate home on the wall of a public restroom between the scribbled phone numbers and gangsta graffiti.

Take the video, for instance, that shows Prime Minister Stephen Harper promising in the last election not to tax income trusts. He reversed his policy last month out of stated concern for public finances and the country's economic competitiveness.

"Lyin' scumbag," was the reaction from one critic.

One fan said: "For those of you who thought that Harper was all about sucking up to the corporate world . . . what do you have to say now?"

The full potential of YouTube may only become clear at election time.

During the U.S. midterm elections, millions of YouTube visitors saw a stem-cell research ad featuring Michael J. Fox and-millions more watched the Republican rebuttal.

And remember the last Canadian election?

You might never have heard of YouTube at the time, but were probably familiar with a controversial Liberal ad that was yanked before it went to air. It suggested that Harper wanted to turn Canada into a military state by putting "soldiers with guns ... in our cities ... in Canada."

You can find it on YouTube.