Up Close and Presidential?

Bill Clinton is an exciting man to be around. Just ask David Corman, who edited a recent video parody of the President -- starring the President himself -- that has ignited a firestorm of Internet downloads and talk-show controversy.

"It was incredible," Corman says about filming the six-minute video, which first showed at this year's White House Correspondents Dinner. "It was the chance of a lifetime to work that closely with the President."

The widely-talked about video featured footage of Clinton wandering the halls of the White House, asking "Anybody home?" and making origami ducks -- a spoof on the emptiness of his Administration's final days. The intimate "mockumentary" was especially appropriate for its target audience: reporters who cover the White House. Once a year, all the White House Correspondents gather to present awards for White House coverage and scholarships for high school students. The President's appearance is traditional. But this year, according to the official spin, Clinton had wanted to do something special. What better way to score extra charisma points than with an exclusive film showing Clinton fooling around with a camera crew in the White House?

"It was done to be a humorous goodbye, so to speak, to the White House Correspondents," explains Mark Kitchens, the White House Director of Internet News. "And we had a good time with it." But even Kitchens was surprised by the response it got. "I think it's been amazing to see the widespread reaction."

Maybe Kitchens shouldn't be so amazed. How many videos can boast an appearance by the President of the United States riding a bike down the empty hallways of the White House? The chief executive is also shown running after Hillary's limo yelling "You forgot your lunch!" and feeding popcorn to Buddy the White House dog while watching 101 Dalmatians.

The video snuck into the public dialogue when the Correspondents Dinner was broadcast on C-Span, but it didn't make a splash until it found a second life on the Internet. When a digitized version of the video was displayed at AdCritic.com -- under the headline "Clinton Washes Dirty Laundry" -- it was downloaded 200,000 times in its first week, estimates site founder Peter Beckman. ("People love it! They love to see that Bill Clinton has a sense of humor!") But then again, it was just a matter of time before the intriguing video percolated out into the Web. "It's been on many different sites," says Kitchens. "All the major news sites have posted it at some point. The Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, ABC, FOX -- all of them had either the entire video or just snippets."

A few voices sniped that the President shouldn't be using his time filming comedy, but Corman says he saw that controversy raised and defused on an episode of Politically Incorrect. "Bill Maher stuck up for him and said it was two hours out of his day," says Corman. "Which is absolutely true. It was probably LESS than two hours."

Intimate Glimpses

The sub-text to the whole affair, of course, is how rare access to the powerful really is. The video's unpredicted popularity, both on television and on the Internet, suggests a growing demand for more intimate portraits of popular politicians. Pre-recorded videos have indeed become a low-risk technique to create a positive impression. Years ago Bill Gates began accompanying his speaking engagements with a video filled with technology skits. Presidential conventions now routinely dim the lights to watch a political video, effectively converting any news coverage into a political advertisement. The Associated Press reports Clinton is showing the recent video to audiences in Kentucky, Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio, where he was promoting his education platform.

Ever since he resuscitated his 1992 Presidential campaign playing the saxophone on the Arsenio Hall show, Clinton has known how to appeal to voters with what is essentially innocuous footage. In one sense, this video is just another incarnation of the media savvy that infuriated conservatives convinced no one would elect a man they'd perceived as a pot-smoking draft dodger. With eight months before he vacates the White House, Clinton is still going after voters' hearts. "I thought it was a really good move," says Beckman. "Too bad he didn't do it earlier in his Presidency!"