Blog P.I.

Mitt Romney’s YouTube adventure has been an unqualified success — so says TubeMogul, a startup premised on online video analytics. Their post on Romney’s participation in the 2008-based YouChoose channel includes a couple charts, including this one I’ve intentionally deprived of context:

What does that represent? That red line actually isn’t Romney, although it’s nearly identical to Romney’s line (not pictured). No, it’s the number of YouTube videos viewed over the past month — all Republicans compared to all Democrats. As TubeMogul points out, this upends the conventional wisdom that Democrats have unrivaled dominance in all things Web 2.0.

But will this only be a blip? Will Romney’s viewership return to previous levels? What happens when Barack Obama takes his turn? Romney doesn’t have the wide appeal (let alone name ID) of Obama, but he does have the most committed online activists of any declared candidate. On the other hand, most of the YouChoose respondents appear to be YouTube regulars, not political junkies. I suppose there is a fairly good chance the novelty will wear off after a few rounds — especially for politech reporters and bloggers like yours truly — so the Romney camp was lucky/wise to get/seize this opportunity.

It’s also worth pointing out that this is the second time YouTube has played a (not always) supporting role in the Romney campaign. Earlier this year, his rapid response to YouTubing (TubeMogul would say politubing) opponents helped turn an unmitigated disaster into a mere experience they’d probably like not to repeat. No other candidate this cycle has been so closely associated with online video — and that’s couning Hillary’s online conversations.

P.S. The previous installment’s title was based on a Frank Capra film, this one, Vincente Minelli, for no particular reason I can think of, but next time I’ll look for something directed by Elia Kazan.