WASHINGTON – In the early stages of the presidential campaign, prospective voters can watch a video of retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson pulling on rubber gloves and playing the board game “Operation,” or share a clip of businesswoman Carly Fiorina mocking Hillary Clinton’s “superhuman travel schedule.”
In a world where Facebook, YouTube and Twitter prevail, some candidates are using gimmicky videos in a bid to reach new audiences.
“In many ways, the fact that now someone can take off online as a viral sensation is the most disruptive thing about politics,” said Rick Wilson, a Republican commentator. “It’s fundamentally changed the way politics work.”
Wilson said the new digital media environment allows politicians to connect directly with potential voters by bypassing traditional broadcast channels that used to filter campaign messages.
While candidates are latching onto this idea more and more, political scientists say there is no proof that viral videos are changing the status of lower-tier candidates.
There is some benefit to “going viral” with a digital stunt, but the media exposure really only benefits candidates who are already in the top-tier, according to Sounman Hong, a research fellow at Harvard University’s Institute for Quantitative Social Science.
“I am generally skeptical about the idea that either Carly Fiorina [or] Ben Carson will benefit from increased online participation,” Hong said, commenting on two GOP candidates with no experience in elective office. “It is the elite politicians who gain from the social media use in terms of both online salience and political fundraising.”
Candidate videos that go viral are often not substantive, said Kevin Wallsten, a political scientist at California State University, Long Beach, who studies new media in elections. They often try to winover viewers by short, attitude-packed, catchy sound-bites, he said.
Think of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham demolishing his cell phone after competitor Donald Trump publicized Graham’s phone number, or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s cooking bacon on his gun.
“It’s fairly new to us,” Wallsten said of the power of viral campaign sensations. “We know what it means if you get 200 endorsements in the House of Representatives. We know what it means if you raise $100 million.” But, he said there is still no consensus on how to measure a campaign’s success online.
Social media and viral videos can generate the buzz a candidate needs to stay in the game, though, said Jennifer Stromer-Galley, an associate professor at Syracuse University who studies social media.
“Someone like Carly Fiorina has a lot of work to do to get the public to know her name,” Stromer-Galley said in a phone interview. “If that boosts her public opinion ratings, then the money will come.”
Wallsten warned that at this early stage in the primary, as the field winnows, trailing candidates will increasingly turn to viral videos.
“That’s the last refuge of a weak campaign,” Wallsten said. “That’s a clear indication that you’re in trouble.”