WASHINGTON, March 20 (UPI) -- Political analysts predict video sharing Web site YouTube will have a profound effect on the 2008 presidential race.
The Web site, which is credited with benefiting the campaign of U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., last year when a video of his opponent, former U.S. Sen. George Allen, calling a Webb staffer "macaca" was uploaded to the site, has played host to 2008 campaigning with an independently produced video supporting the presidential aspirations of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.
The video uses George Orwell's 1984 as a backdrop for an ad supporting Obama over U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.
"This will be the political phenomena of 2008," Democratic consultant Steve Jarding said of YouTube advertising.
Nick Baldick, campaign manager for Democratic hopeful John Edwards, told the Sun-Times he believes the site will have a large effect on the election.
"It will have an impact, and every campaign will have to deal with it," he said.
"Every campaign has to have a new media plan to combat this," said Kevin Madden, spokesman Republican hopeful Mitt Romney. He said candidates will need to keep their "market share" focused on the campaign's target issues.
