Granted, I began this blog post solely as an excuse to highlight the fine work of Todd Domke in the Boston Globe today. A nice sarcastic piece at each of the Presidential contenders (although I do have a personal vested interest in hoping Mike Huckabee goes somewhere beyond Wheel of Fortune).

This did spark a little thought about the wild and wacky failed prognostications of the past election cycle. John Edwards’ firewall in Iowa, Chris Dodd(!) as the possible breakout candidate, Rudy Giuliani’s frontrunner status…this has essentially proven just how bad we all are at this game of punditry. And we’ve been no better when it comes to technology.

The January 1, 2000 edition of Newsweek, for instance, talked up the future of e-books, suggesting that by 2010 such a product would be in the midst of intense competition with paperbacks. It also gee-whizzed about folks having glasses that multi-tasked as computer screens for an arm-band keyboard/memory. These were projected as being the new office norm by 2010.

Likewise, I remember reading in 1999 about the plethora of middle-school students with laptops that was supposed to be standard by 2005. The $100 laptop notwithstanding.

So, what does this all mean? I suppose nothing more than the old adage that Web 3.0 will be completely unexpected and unlike anything we can predict…as well the politics that will emerge out of it.

This post was guest-blogged by Sam Levenback

Senator Clinton is going to be getting some buzz for her second YouTube YouChoose video. Last week she posted a clip asking for help picking a campaign theme song. The video was a little different because it was sly, funny, and lighthearted. While other candidates have been asking lofty questions about public policy or voters’ hopes, Clinton’s video spliced in the infamous clip of her belting the National Anthem. In the video, she gives a solemn vow not to sing the winning song.

Flash forward a week and over 500,000 views later: Hillary now has the most viewed YouTube channel in the entire field and a new video. It’s hysterical.

This video isn’t just notable because it’ll get half a million hits. It’s the first YouTube video to combine Web 2.0 interaction with a little all-American political personality. All the other candidates have been putting on an interested face, asking questions, and making a few responses. And we folks who watch these videos and their responses have been grading them on that paradigm. But Hillary’s video is different. This is the personal type of campaigning that usually only those in Iowa and New Hampshire get to experience.

Some people will fairly complain that both videos are a bit too irreverent. But undecideds, I bet, will be more likely to vote for Hillary after viewing these clips.

All of the other candidates have been treating these YouTube videos as an opportunity to ask serious questions of serious, interested voters. But for whatever reason, personalities have been a bit thin. Hillary found a balance between interaction, humor, and personality that for whatever reason, she would never have shown on cable television. I don’t know why she is more comfortable being funny on YouTube, but so be it. It’s fun to watch.