Washington : From the steamy, to the bizarre, and the downright embarrassing, the marathon grind of the 2008 White House campaign is mercifully, rich with missteps, mirth and melodies. When a racy brunette in a bikini gyrates in a steamy video, declaring a crush on Democratic hopeful Barack Obama, it's clear that the hoopla surrounding this US election is like nothing that came before. In her own musical moment, formerly Frosty Hillary Clinton has been spotted on her own website swaying to music in a trance-like state, and -- Senator John McCain in an unguarded moment sang, "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran."
These campaign snapshots, starring on computers everywhere, are partly the product of the Youtube video sharing craze which has opened a new dimension in political campaigns.
The latest sensation this week handed Clinton's chief Democratic rival, Barack Obama, unwanted top billing in a raunchy web video by a scantily-clad woman dubbed "Obama girl."
"I got a crush on Obama ... I can't wait until 2008 ... I love it when you get hot on Hillary in debate," lip-synchs model Amber Lee Ettinger, grabbing her 15 minutes of Youtube fame in a video not linked to the campaign.
The mock music video features Ettinger dancing next to a picture of the toned 45-year-old candidate strolling out of the surf in Hawaii, and has migrated from the web to cable television.
Maybe all publicity is good publicity, but Lee Rainie, who studies the intersection of campaigns and the web for the pew internet and American life project, says viral videos raise worrying questions for candidates.