Nebraska GOP Makes Sad Attempt atYouTube-ing Chris Beutler

It is no secret that the Nebraska Democrat Party is light years ahead of Nebraska’s Republican Party when it comes to cyber campaigning. That sad fact was highlighted again today in an email from the Nebraska GOP that stated the following:

I hope you’re sitting down for this one! The Nebraska Republican Party has just secured video evidence of Chris Beutler bragging about his votes to raise taxes on Nebraska taxpayers.

I was interested, so I clicked on the link to view the “video evidence.” I included the video below so you can watch it as well.

I was disappointed to find that after watching a lengthy video – most of which was actually about Ken Svoboda, and not Chris Beutler – that the “evidence” was a 3 second clip of Beutler saying that his votes in the Unicameral were made for many reasons.

There was no audio of Beutler saying he wanted to raise taxes, nor anything that even really implied that he would do it. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think he would lose any sleep if property valuations went up on his watch, but this video was the worst online bait and switch I have seen in a long time!

Most of these cyber campaign videos are viral marketing, in that the goal is to get them to spread among supporters and create a buzz. I am sure that was the hope of the NE GOP with this video.

However, this production clearly missed its target, and is a textbook case in how NOT to execute a viral marketing cyber campaign video. For goodness sake, the verbiage of the email suggests that the video was “found” by the Nebraska GOP, when in fact there is a credit screen at the end stating that the Nebraska GOP made the video.

As a service to the mostly technologically backwards Nebraska GOP, I would politely suggest that you spend some time doing what the Democrats have done. Build a network of technically adept users and encourage them to produce things like this. Let them release the video and then you can “find” it.

The Internet is evolving beyond what one person, one party, or even one government can control. The best way to “play the system” is to become part of it and embrace the ebb and flow of it. The Internet as a whole is not friendly to Republicans, or conservatives for that matter. Emails and disappointing videos like this do not help that image at all.

Nice try guys, but no cigar on this one. I support Svoboda for Mayor because he is the better candidate. Unless you want a repeat of the last Mayoral disaster, spend less time with videos and more time on the phone bank to get out the vote.