Is Obamaland Spreading Anti-Palin YouTubes? An Assessment

Here, courtesy of the Jawa Report, is a summary of the evidence they provide to back up the claim that the Obama campaign is linked to scurrilous anti-Palin videos circulating on the web.

• Evidence suggests that a YouTube video with false claims about Palin was uploaded and promoted by members of a professional PR firm.

• The family that runs the PR firm has extensive ties to the Democratic Party, the netroots, and are staunch Obama supporters.

• Evidence suggests that the firm engaged in a concerted effort to distribute the video in such a way that it would appear to have gone viral on its own. Yet this effort took place on company time.

• Evidence suggests that these distribution efforts included actions by at least one employee of the firm who is unconnected with the family running the company.

• The voice-over artist used in this supposedly amateur video is a professional.

• This same voice-over artist has worked extensively with David Axelrod's firm, which has a history of engaging in phony grassroots efforts, otherwise known as "astroturfing."

• David Axelrod is Barack Obama's chief media strategist.

• The same voice-over artist has worked directly for the Barack Obama campaign

Independently evaluating each claim is beyond the scope of this column, or, frankly, this column's interest -- having been very much engaged with the subject, I did not come across the videos, and there is no evidence that their circulation escaped the echo chamber of the liberal blogosphere.  But let's assume that every datum is correct and take the charge seriously.

The problem is that logically, one cannot infer, from the evidence above, that the Obama campaign had any formal or informal role in the distribution of these videos. (Could an Obama aide or two -- one or two of a thousand employees-- have forwarded the video to a friend? Yes -- but that tells us nothing.)   Indeed, what the evidence implies is that a liberal PR firm decided to gin up some anti-Palin viral videos. That's it.

The circumstantial evidence against the Obama campaign's involvement is not compelling either, but it is at least as compelling as the evidence for it.

For example -- the videos were poorly hidden and easily traceable.  (eswinner) --  It's easy on YouTube to be sneaky about these things. The videos' creators did not take pains to hide the videos until citizen journalists called them out, and the hasty effort to take them down suggests that that no organized thought was given to a "cover up" -- which, in these cases, is always more outrageous than the crimes.

Second -- using the same voice over artist... if you were intent on creating stealth videos, you'd be monumentally stupid to use a recognizable voice over artist - or one that's worked for the Obama campaign before.

Third -- the video is professional. Yes. It's very easy to create professional-looking videos these days. That says nothing.

Fourth -- readers kindly send me a dozen or so professionally-produced YouTube videos every week; many of them are amusing and others are silly. What pops -- and the Obama and McCain campaign know this -- is not professionally produced videos; what pops is raw footage of errant quotations or gaffes. Or the occasional humor video produced for its humorous content only.  These type of videos never pop.

Partisans of the Republican ticket have every right to believe that the Obama campaign is malevolent, and to assume the worst of motivations; certainly, liberal partisans reciprocate.  But it takes a willfull suspension of belief to assume that the Obama campaign is stupid. 

For the record, here is what Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor has to say:

"This one ranks as one of the most outlandish conspiracy theories in a campaign that has had its share of them.   Neither our campaign nor any of our consultants had any involvement with this YouTube video, and the McCain campaign should provide a shred of believable evidence before advancing false allegations and misleading voters yet another time."

For example -- the videos were poorly hidden and easily traceable.  (eswinner) --  It's easy on YouTube to be sneaky about these things. The videos' creators did not take pains to hide the videos until citizen journalists called them out, and the hasty effort to take them down suggests that that no organized thought was given to a "cover up" -- which, in these cases, is always more outrageous than the crimes.

Second -- using the same voice over artist... if you were intent on creating stealth videos, you'd be monumentally stupid to use a recognizable voice over artist - or one that's worked for the Obama campaign before.

Third -- the video is professional. Yes. It's very easy to create professional-looking videos these days. That says nothing.

Fourth -- readers kindly send me a dozen or so professionally-produced YouTube videos every week; many of them are amusing and others are silly. What pops -- and the Obama and McCain campaign know this -- is not professionally produced videos; what pops is raw footage of errant quotations or gaffes. Or the occasional humor video produced for its humorous content only.  These type of videos never pop.

Partisans of the Republican ticket have every right to believe that the Obama campaign is malevolent, and to assume the worst of motivations; certainly, liberal partisans reciprocate.  But it takes a willfull suspension of belief to assume that the Obama campaign is stupid. 

For the record, here is what Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor has to say:

"This one ranks as one of the most outlandish conspiracy theories in a campaign that has had its share of them.   Neither our campaign nor any of our consultants had any involvement with this YouTube video, and the McCain campaign should provide a shred of believable evidence before advancing false allegations and misleading voters yet another time."