大象传媒

Caught on the Net

• Nick Miles
• 4 Oct 06, 02:08 PM

The mid-terms are a political battle that are being waged as much over the internet as in the mainstream media.
This year the internet site , where millions of video clips are posted and viewed every day, has become the site of choice for disseminating embarrassing information about Congressional candidates.

Take, the Republican senator from Virginia, , who's up for re-election. He recently slipped up in front of a Democratic party activist of Indian American descent who was videoing his speeches. Mr Allen addressed him directly and called him "macaca" which is a type of monkey and also a racial slur. The video found its way from YouTube to the national television networks. Senator Allen' s lead has shrunk considerably.

YouTube is an equal opportunity vehicle for embarrassment, it's not been kind to George Allen's opponent, either. Anybody wanting to see Mr Webb's views on women in the military dredged up from almost thirty years ago ( he said and that "being at a naval academy was a horny woman's dream") can do so on the site.

YouTube and the plethora of new political blogs here mean there's a dizzying array of political content on the Web.
, from George Washington University, a long-time watcher of the interplay between politics and the internet told me that campaigners are finding it increasingly difficult to manage bad news. "Anybody who thinks blogs aren't influential is out of touch with reality" she said.

Nick Miles is a Washington correspondent for 大象传媒 News.