One Million See McCain's YouTube Problem!

Posted by ZP Heller, Brave New Films at 8:17 AM on May 22, 2008.

We're entering record-breaking territory here. Since The Real McCain 2 launched this past Sunday, over 1 million people have seen it! It's been the #1 most viewed video on YouTube, #1 on the viral video chart, and the #2 story on the Digg Election 2008 page. We're reaching an audience that most cable news shows only dream of.

We knew the press's inexplicably blind love for McCain has led to a dearth of accurate reportage regarding his record on the issues. We knew the corporate media have been going far easier on McCain than on either Obama or Clinton. Now that we have the numbers, we know that the general public hungers for the truth about the so-called "Maverick."

We've reached a critical juncture in this presidential campaign. For the last seven years, the mainstream press has sacrificed its objectivity and courage in a pathetic attempt to appease conservatives, lest they be painted left-leaning.

We need to continue spreading videos like The Real McCain 2, passing them along to friends and coworkers, and raising the national discourse until our pleas for unbiased, hard-hitting journalism are heard by the corporate media.

And it has to happen now, especially when the presumptive GOP nominee can't get his basic facts right on Iran. Especially when the press is obsessed with Jeremiah Wright but won't go after McCain's endorsements (which he sought) from the viciously anti-Semitic Rev. John Hagee or the deeply bigoted Rev. Rod Parsley. Especially when White House lackey Ed Gillespie is going on Glenn Beck's show to call for a boycott of NBC. Especially when Bill O'Reilly and FOX News are parroting the White House once again, assailing NBC, MSNBC, and their parent company, General Electric. And especially when Karl Rove is attacking Democrats on FOX News, which refuses to identify him as an informal McCain adviser and maxed-out donor.

We'll keep the Real McCain sequels coming, as long as you continue to pass them along. And please donate to the Brave New PAC so that we can have further success with our Real McCain series.

Tagged as: john mccain, brave new films

ZP Heller is the editorial director of Brave New Films. He has written for The American Prospect, AlterNet, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Huffington Post, covering everything from politics to pop culture.