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Over one million views on YouTube in just 19 hours. And growing.
(Also posted here.)
Let me give you some perspective on just how big a hit Barack Obama's "A More Perfect Union"
was: in its first 19 hours on YouTube, it has been played three times
as often as the most viewed clip on John McCain's channel -- and has
received 170,000 more views than the most viewed clip on Hillary
Clinton's channel.
By mid-day, "A More Perfect Union" will almost certainly have been watched more times in 36 hours than than the Clinton clip (her 3am ad) and the McCain clip (Bill Clinton praising his political skills) -- combined. Together, those two clips have been on YouTube for just a touch longer than 19 hours. (Clinton's two weeks, McCain's three months.) Obama's speech has already received twice as many views as the original video of Wright, posted on the web one week ago.
Another way of thinking about it: the most popular Clinton and McCain clips were both well under one minute long -- and neither candidate appeared in their own video (except for the obligatory "I approved this ad" message).
I should also note that while Obama's video is ranked at 4 stars and has 8,500 ratings and growing, Clinton's video was ranked 1 star and had 3,000+ ratings.
The viral spread of Obama's address has blown away Obama's famous Ebenezer Baptist speech, which received 330,000 views in its first few days online. At the time, that seemed remarkable.
Now -- more than one million views -- in less than 24 hours? For a speech that itself was just over a half-hour long? Incredible.
When you hear people say that a Barack Obama presidency could be transformative, this kind of thing is what makes them think that. The amount of interest in Barack Obama's campaign is just staggering. I have never before seen a political figure establish the kind of connection with people that Barack Obama has been able to achieve.
An e-mail a friend of mine wrote me last night demonstrates what I'm talking about. As you can see, Obama's speech inspired him -- and his response to it inspired me.
Subject: Barack's speechAdmittedly, I live in a liberal city and work in a liberal area of Seattle (south of downtown). Today at noon I went to a bar/grill place to have lunch and Barack's speech was on a few of the plasma TVs at the bar.
Everyone
in that bar was absolutely mesmerized by this guy. It reminded of Jed
and I watching the OJ verdict on TV so many years ago.I have no idea whether this speech was politically good -a good
friend of mine was telling that the right was making their usual
hatchet job. I almost am curious to find out what the Clintons will do
with this.Up until today I was torn about what I was going to do in November. I can't stomach voting Republican mostly because of their social agenda. But I wasn't bowled over by Barack or Hillary. See I am too cynical and jaded to believe in hope and inspiration and all of Barack's rhetoric. Hillary's sense of inevitability and entitlement smacks of a politburo bureacrat whose turn has finally come.
Today though I am a believer. Maybe I am a sucker and maybe I will be dissapointed again. But right now I have bought into the dream. And against my better rational judgement I am allowing myself to believe that sometimes the messenger transcends the message. And that hope and inspiration can be the catalyst for real change.
I stopped believing in religion a while ago. I have 12 years of catholic schooling to know when I am in the throes of blind faith. It feels a little bit like that right now.
(Just a quick note for those who might be confused as to how I came up with the traffic numbers. It's simple -- just click here and here to watch the two versions of the speech posted on Barack Obama's YouTube channel and add both of the numbers together.)
Comments (18)
The Awesome Power of Youtube.
Remarkable.
March 19, 2008 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Obama's decision to do this cannot have been easy; he reports that many of his advisors were urging a more cautious approach.
What this whole episode tells me is that Obama -- a temperamentally cautious guy -- is nevertheless willing to "go long" and expend some political capital when he sees an issue that is central to the progressive agenda.
In this case, sure, he's advancing his own campaign. But he's also raising the level of public discussion about race -- trying to push a bit beyond insincere politeness, toward the sort of genuine understanding that requires acknowledging the valid sources of bitterness on both sides. And he's doing this all explicitly on the premise that racial division has been a "distraction" and an obstacle to progressive politics, because it prevents working-class people from uniting to pursue their shared economic interests.
And now we're getting a million YouTube hits for that/i> message. If we can get that message across, it has long-term progressive implications that extend beyond one candidate or one campaign.
This is the promise we all saw back in January and February. I think Obama has already made the country a better place; this is the sort of boldness and the sort of achievement that makes me very glad I have donated to his campaign.
March 19, 2008 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
You have to love the YouTube. The media elites no longer controll access. I have been thinking that if this speach gets to the public it will have a great impact. Thank you for letting me know it is getting out.
March 19, 2008 1:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
The speech was extraordinary, but so far my impression is that its treatment in the press has been predictable: Obama refuses to distance himself from Wright, slavery a "stain" on Constitution, etc.
March 19, 2008 6:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I consider Barack's speech a very good one, except for the salute to AIPAC. But Barack is capable of far better speeches. If he becomes President we will hear them.
March 19, 2008 6:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually on CNN I heard rave reviews on his speech. One "expert" was saying that it was brilliant, and that it was refreshing to have a political leader speak to us as if we are adults, unlike other political leaders who speak to us like we are kids, that it was great to have a serious talk on this subject etc. I was surprised but agreed with them. Overall all three experts/commentators said it was a great speech. I think it took courage, and I am so incredibly proud as well of Senator Obama. I think the part on all children in this country being America's kids and that he focused on education was great. He took this on and it was brave.
March 19, 2008 7:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
Brave, inspiring and wise.
March 19, 2008 8:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
The speech brought tears to my eyes. I hope the country can know what it has in Obama.
March 19, 2008 9:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
To me the most awesome thing about Obama's speech was that he was willing to put his chances of gaining the presidency on the line in order to tell the truth as he sees it. Even when people do not agree with everything he said, and there are legions of them, they will at least respect his courage and steadfastness. To people, he seemed presidential in a way the other two candidates do not even come close.
Oh, there is no doubt, Obama may lose the primary to Clinton, and if he runs against McCain the right wing may destroy him. Whatever happens though, he can feel assured that he has done the right thing. For a politician these days, that is a rare feat.
March 19, 2008 9:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Let's not forget that it's not just YouTube. I think all the major networks have highlights as well as the whole speech online. I saw the whole speech on MSNBC a couple of hours after the speech itself. If you add the major networks, the number of views is going to be much higher than the YouTube hit count.
As I said in an earlier post, a lot of people, even those who do not agree with everything he said, or even quite grasp it, are going to be impressed with the man, and some of them are going to say, "Heck, I can vote for that guy!"
The other point I want to make is that a lot of those views on YouTube or the networks will be from foreign countries, and Obama's message may well come across as a plus for America's reputation in the world. So in a sense he probably did not intend, Obama may be already a good-will ambassador for America.
March 19, 2008 9:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
It was an excellent speech, and discussed race directly, an important issue that is rarely discussed directly in America. There is no doubt that Barack Obama is a great writer: his two books demonstate that fact. I take issue, though, with the notion that it was courageous: after he had already said things that were patently rediculous, such as that he had no idea after twenty years what his pastor's views were on these matters, he had to try to explain to people why he continued to attend the chuch. Three days later, he had written a great speech more or less answering that question--well, not really, but one can infer what he might have said if he'd answered it. Or maybe not. Was it principle, was it expedience? Who really knows, even after the speech. The Republicans will tell us if he's the nominee. And I certainly take issue with the idea that this speech means he is presidential or should be President: the entire episode showed his inexperience. His first impulse was to ignore the issue, then to misstate the facts, then to omit the facts, and then, finally, when the polls and virulent U Tube adverts showed those strategies weren't working, to make a great speech. It's the Vice-President's job to make great speeches, and it's the President's job to be a leader, to have a clear, decisive, steady hand on the tiller of the ship of state. Barack Obama has failed to show anything like that, in my view,in this and too many other incidents like this already.
March 19, 2008 10:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
"after he had already said things that were patently rediculous, such as that he had no idea after twenty years what his pastor's views were on these matters." AnAmericaninTornoto
Except that isn't what he said. Did you watch the speech? Did you watch what he actually said last week? You do realize that you are repeating misinformation about facts that takes zero effort to check on the web.
March 19, 2008 10:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
So the great speaches of Churchill and FDR, the oratory of Lincoln and of Tedy Roosevelt were not part of their leadership skills. They should have been vice presidents because they were just speachifiers. Leadership involves moving public opinion. The best tool for that is oratory.
March 20, 2008 12:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Right now the full 37 minute speech has been seen by over 1,700,000 people who have tuned into Youtube. God knows how many more have seen parts of it. Think about it. One million seven hundred thousand people, plus God knows how many others who have tuned into the networks, have taken the time to watch the full thing on their computer monitors. Most of them made their decision to watch because somebody suggested they needed to watch it.
Do you think that it is possible Americans are hungry for politicians who treat them like adults?
March 19, 2008 10:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well the Yes We Can song is over 6 million hits right now so yeah youtube is quite nice since the Media only showed it once then they just showsvery small parts of what they want to use.
March 19, 2008 10:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
Everyone is sucked into a vortex of cliche,
of evasion.
He criticized Wright's ideas without criticizing Wright's ideas.
He wants his cake and he wants to keep eating it.
He is, as usual, lying.
Malik Zulu Shabazz is not fooled.
Malik loved the speech.
He sees Obama as tolerant of biggotry, which he is.
Malik is the new leader of NBPP
the New Black Panther Party
Malik knows O has a soft spot to tolerate:
antiAmericanism, antiwhite hatred, antisemitism.
Malik and Farrakhn strongly support O
Get off the O train before it crashes.
March 20, 2008 7:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
He was so genuinely moved by this issue that I, too, was mesmerized and a bit choked up.
I have never seen such an open and honest politician...and I know it is hard for a lot of cynics to believe in him after the nightmare-ish lying, cheating, moral corruptness and law-breaking of the last administration.
I showed this long speech to my 8 and 10 year old kids (on YouTube) and what was amazing is that they both watched without a peep. They didn't understand everything, but they were riveted. My ten year old said at the end, "this guy is going to win."
When was the last time anyone showed their kids a presidential speech? It felt SO GOOD to have them involved and feeling optimistic and energized about their country and this extraordinary man.
There is a NEW generation at stake here. The futures of the kids who can't vote yet. Obama is fighting for my kids and the way they view the world, their country, politics, and the diverse people around them. I don't want to watch them grow up to be cynical and judgmental...
I want them to be like Barack Obama.
March 20, 2008 8:32 AM | Reply | Permalink
The more I hear from Obama, the more I respect him. He is truly our best and brightest.
He is far from perfect, and not as sharp politically as some, but I have a feeling this could really be a great president.
March 20, 2008 9:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
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