http://www.beet.tv/2008/10/campaign-shocke.html
Third party presidential candidate Ralph Nader isn't getting much television exposure, but he has 2 percent support of likley voters according to yesterday's Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll. Could it be that alternative media, including online video shows, might be helping his cause? Wouldn't it be ironic if the Obama Girl herself is helping him?
Recently Barely Political, an online political humor site, produced two videos featuring the Obama Girl, Amber Lee Ettinger, and the 74-year old consumer advocate turned inveterate candidate. Ben Relles, the show's producer, tells Beet.TV that the two segment have gotten 400,000 views to date.
Her first video, "I Got a Crush on Obama" has had 10 million views on YouTube.
We asked Ben if the Obama Girl is endorsing Nader. He told us no, Amber is supporting Barack Obama, but the show enjoyed spending time with Nader. If Nader's popularity becomes an issue in closely contested battleground states, some might think the Obama Girl/Nader clips might not be too funny. Here's the take on the "odd couple" by the Huffington Post's media columnist Rachel Sklar.
Earlier this week, I caught up with Amber at the Time/CNN Politics '08 summit in Manhattan. Amber tells me she is astonished by impact of the Obama Girl videos on her career. She is getting a lot of notice these days. GQ has published this photo of her in the current issue (below). And, she has yet to meet the Illinois Senator.
--Andy Plesser, Executive Producer