Behold! It’s Your Congress on YouTube

In a pair of advertising-free zones within the YouTube-iverse, your United State House and Senate are embarking on an adventurous new way of communicating with the American people.

Here’s how YouTube lays it out:

So, why are your elected leaders coming to YouTube? The short answer is: you. Your use of YouTube and other online platforms to speak up on political issues and hold your leaders accountable has shown just how powerful this medium can be. You’ve shown your elected officials that in order to be in contact with you, they need to come to the platforms you use most, and engage with you directly. (YouTube Blog)

The Introductory video is suffers a little from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s performance – if this video is Valkyrie, McConnell is Tom Cruise – but Reid, Pelosi and Boehner are game and do a good (albeit stiff) job of sharing the thinking behind this project.

I took a few minutes to check out some of the other clips, and one Member’s work surprised me.  Republican Representative Howard “Buck” McKeown, from California’s 25th Congressional District.

The good folks at TechPresident also took notice of the Man From Santa Clarita:

McKeon introduces his interns, legislative staff, and the person who will answer your call should you ask for information on a congressional tour. At one point, McKeon even turns the camera on his startled “new media guy” named Robert. It’s well worth a watch to see Hill staffers in their natural habitat.  (TechPresident)

What is it about Latter Day Saints officeholders that makes them such natural YouTube stars?  MittTV was a gem in the primaries, and now Buck McKeon (of all people!) is turning in interesting product in the sphere.

I may never watch a video with any of the congressional leadership again, but I’ll be keeping an eye on that Congressman directly to my north.  Sadly, I may be the only one…McKeon’s 13 videos (dating back seven months) total up to less than a thousand views; 862 at the time of my writing this.