It is guerrilla politics at its cleverest: The mysterious Internet video that compares US presidential hopeful Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Big Brother is the boffo hit of the YouTube Web site.
The 74-second clip, a copy of a 1984 Apple ad for its computer, has recorded more than 1 million views, with an enormous surge in the past two days.
While the video's final image reads "BarackObama.com," the campaign of the Illinois senator has denied being behind it.
The video's creator remained anonymous. But for political strategists, ad experts, even journalists, the ad presents a series of other fundamental unknowns, such as how will Web content outside the control of campaigns affect voters, or how should campaigns react to anonymous but highly viewed attacks?
As the Internet looks more and more like an electronic community, politicians are increasingly devoting resources to their Web sites, planting themselves in e-gathering places such as Facebook.com and MySpace.com and posting their videos on YouTube.
With some exceptions, however, what draws viewers is content that politicians do not control. A video clip of former senator John Edwards combing his hair to the dubbed-in tune of I Feel Pretty has drawn more than 150,000 views. A clip of Clinton singing a slightly off-key version of the Star-Spangled Banner has drawn more than 1 million views.
What's more, Internet content does not have to meet the strict reporting standards that television and radio ads must observe. That makes the Web the medium of choice for stealthy tactics by partisans operating outside the campaigns.
For candidates caught in the crosshairs, one way to respond is to brush it off, preferably with humor.
Asked about the Macintosh video on Tuesday, Clinton said: "I'm just happy if it's taking attention away from my singing. My singing was bad enough. I'm just happy that nobody is tuning in to that."
The ad portrays Clinton on a huge TV screen addressing robotic humans in a stark, futuristic hall. A female athlete tosses a hammer at the screen, destroying Clinton's image with an explosive flash. Then this text: "On January 14th the Democratic primary will begin. And you will see why 2008 isn't going to be like `1984.'"
But the Web is also a vast repository for imitation. A video posted two days ago copies the same Macintosh ad used against Clinton to target Obama. In a juxtaposition of spoof on spoof, the video uses Obama's pre-Super Bowl TV appearance when he pretended to announce his candidacy only to proclaim his support for the Chicago Bears.
"The Bears lost. So will Obama," the ad script says.
Obama, appearing on CNN's Larry King Live on Monday, said his campaign knew nothing about the origins of the anti-Clinton ad.
"Frankly, given what it looks like, we don't have the technical capacity to create something like this," Obama said. "It's pretty extraordinary."
David Winston, a Republican political consultant, said candidates are still grappling with the comparative effectiveness of television advertising and Internet ads, no matter who creates them.
"A view on regular media would be what I would describe as a passive view -- you're just sitting there being entertained," he said. "A view on YouTube is an intentional view. You actually sought out the content to watch it."
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