America's biggest political weapon is YouTube. Has it already lost its sting?

2014 was a surprisingly down year for "gotcha" videos

YouTube Gotcha
(Image credit: (Illustration by Sarah Eberspacher | Photos courtesy iStock, YouTube screenshots))

YouTube has changed the way we do a lot of things, and politics is certainly one of them.

The video-sharing site, launched in 2005 and turbo-charged when Google purchased it a year later, gave us the first taste of its potency as a political weapon in the 2006 midterms. Then-Virginia Sen. George Allen (R) saw his heavily favored re-election campaign fall apart when he was caught on video calling an Indian-American staffer for opponent Jim Webb "macaca."

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.