At the Democratic National Convention, Rachel Maddow interviewed Google CEO Eric Schmidt on how the Internet is changing politics.
More videos from the Big Tent, the Google-sponsored facility for alternative media, are available on YouTube.
via JD Lasica

Internet media isn’t just being used by people wanting to limit the role of government in the US; it’s also being used the the goverment itself to attract people to serving in the military.
70 percent of the US Army’s new prospects are attracted via online video campaigns, according to digital ad agency MRM. The company [...]

We already know that John McCain is a huge ABBA fan, from his blog. 
But what about Barack Obama? What’s on his iPod?
Obama says he has ”pretty eclectic tastes”:
The list of bands reads like the acts at a summer music festival, with the Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow and Ludacris all in the mix.
Obama said that, growing up, [...]

The SFGate has published an interesting piece that looks at how Internet media affected Hillary Clinton’s campaign:
What hurt Clinton most, political analysts say, is that she couldn’t consistently use the newfound ubiquity of video to soften her image with voters. Or, as George Washington University Professor and new-media analyst Michael Cornfeld said, “It’s like the [...]

Earlier in the week, Elisabeth noted that Barack Obama had wrapped enough delegates to secure the Democratic nomination and that he is actively using podcasting as part of his campaign strategy.
Obama has run a remarkable campaign, and his campaign’s has made innovative use of social media, embracing not just podcasting, but Twitter, Flickr, MySpace, Facebook, [...]

MTV announced today that on Super Tuesday it will have 23 members of its citizen journalist Street Team ‘08 covering it:
Our enterprising citizen journalists will be on the ground, at the polling stations, caucus sites and candidate rallies, bringing you up-to-the minute news as it happens. The candidates aren’t going to be stopping on Super [...]

Barack Obama delivers the Top Ten list on the Late Show with David Letterman:

# 4 may be the best fake campaign promise yet!

Doug Kaye, founder of volunteer network PodCorps, has clued us in on another one-time opportunity for podcasters. The New York Times needs local “radio producers” to gather audio interviews on Super Tuesday, February 5th, 2008, in the following states:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California (Northern & Southern)
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Kansas
Massachusets
Minnesota
Missouri
New Jersey
North Dakota
New Mexico
Oklahoma
Tennessee
Utah
Stringers are asked to create and edit the content quickly: [...]

Podcasting News is headquartered in Iowa’s capital city, Des Moines, so we’ve had a front-row seat for the preparations to the first-in-the-nation Presidential nominating caucus.
I’ll be busy this evening working at our neighborhood caucus, but may have time to post some Seesmic videos later. Look for videos from podcastmama.
Here are some resources you can check [...]

Saudi political blogger Fouah al-Farhan is being held for “purposes of interrogation”. Farhan’s blog criticizes official corruption and advocates government reform, and has become one of the most widely read in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia, a monarchy, restricts free speech and does not allow public political gatherings. The Saudi press has not reported Farhan’s arrest.
Mr. Farhan, [...]