Wearing red hot pants, the brunette on the computer screen sings, "I got a crush on Obama."
Obama Girl's video, which has received more than 10 million views on YouTube, is one of the site's most viewed election-related videos. It's one of many political videos, both formal and homemade, that have bombarded YouTube during the site's first presidential election.
Although the videos are unregulated and usually negative, experts say they probably have little effect on voters because of their lack of serious content.
"The Internet has been a much freer, open place for ads," said Lynda Lee Kaid, a UF professor of telecommunication who specializes in political communication.
Kaid said it was ironic that citizens complain about negative ads on television when the ones created by citizens on YouTube are nearly all negative.
She said during the midterm election in 2006, she performed a study that classified 100 percent of citizen-produced political videos on YouTube as negative.
While not all the political videos on the site are negative now, most ads on YouTube are also humorous and satirize candidates, specific viewpoints or other videos, she said.
Daniel Smith, a UF political science professor, said the videos on YouTube are edgier, more experimental and increasingly innovative, making them more appealing to a wider audience.
The videos are a way for candidates to create a buzz through free media, Smith said, though it may not be the type of attention a candidate wants.
While ads on cable television target specific audiences, such as cooking aficionados and outdoorsmen, Internet videos are available to all audiences, Smith said.
He said although the audience is not seeing online videos that are significant enough to affect a campaign, the videos can spread like fire, causing an enormous audience to view videos that sometimes feature information unimportant to the campaign.
In addition to spurring 10 million views, Obama Girl has led to sequels based on the singer's romantic interest in the Democratic candidate.
"These have lives beyond themselves," Smith said.
Kaid said she supports the videos because they help citizens have their political views expressed.
"It provides an opportunity for people to have their say," she said.
Some students said they didn't feel their views were affected by online videos.
Zandrae Green, a UF political science senior, said because the videos are mostly on YouTube, they could probably only affect the youth vote.
The ads lack important content and have less credibility, Green said.
"They're entertaining to me," he said. "I take them with a pinch of salt."
