Here are my notes for the talk I'm about to give at Politics Web 2.0 on "The Revolution Will Be Networked: How Open Source Politics is Emerging in America.” (Caveat emptor, your experience may vary.)

I'm glad that TechPresident blogger David All posted the "I've Got a Crush...on Obama" video this morning, because it opens up a discussion that Josh Levy and I started having yesterday when we got the same email tip about the video that I presume David got. First off, do watch the video--it's hilarious, the lyrics are priceless ("You're into border security...let's break this border between you and me...Universal health care reform...it makes me warm"), and BarelyPolitical, the comedy team that wrote the music and filmed the video, should probably get hired by Saturday Night Live. (They're up to nearly 30,000 views on YouTube, by the way, as of this morning.) But is this a political video mashup or a job application? And in this day and age, should we care if it's both at the same time?

The Web on the Candidates

OpenSecrets.org has built an amazing Flash tool that graphically represents the links between the top five contributors to presidential campaigns and the candidates. The candidate and donor names are featured in bubbles, and when you click on, say, Mitt Romney's bubble, you'll see his top five donors (Goldman Sachs, Bain Capital, HIG Capital, Kirkland & Ellis, Marriott International). Click on the Goldman Sachs bubble and you'll see who they've contributed to (Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, and Barack Obama) and on and on... [via epolitics]

Unbeknownst to most followers of the candidates, John McCain is a huge Beach Boys fan. He recently displayed his love for the '60s group by singing his favorite song, "Bomb Iran," at a recent campaign stop. No, I'm kidding! He was actually asked by a supporter how he would deal with the threat of Iran, and he nervously laughed and said, "You know that old Beach Boys song 'Bomb Iran?'" and proceeded to sing "Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran..." Now, inevitably, the clip is on YouTube, and in the YouTube era it could be a pretty damning document. AirCongress has more, including an odd statement from Arizona Rep. John Shadegg, who came to McCain's defense.

YouTube news and politics editor Steve Grove has a great interview up on YouTube with Phil de Vellis (a.k.a. "ParkRidge47") on how and why he made the now famous "Vote Different"/Hillary 1984 video. The whole phenomenon of voter-generated content couldn't have a better "spokesperson" (if such a thing is even possible).

The Web on the Candidates

Comments from around the web:

Ben Smith of the Politico: "The web consultant who left Obama's web consulting firm after taking credit for the Vote Different ad has been shadowed in the past by accusations of 'dirty tricks.'"

Jerome Armstrong at MyDD: "I know the founders of Blue State Digital, and this was a petty move on their part..."

Hotline On Call: "So -- they fired the guy for creating a creative wonderpiece."

My hat is off to Arianna Huffington and her crew for figuring out who made the "Vote Different" Hillary 1984 video mash-up, and even better for getting Phil de Vellis, its author, to say more about his reasons for making the video.