Immediately following Gov. Bill Ritter's annual State of State speech this morning, Republicans released a YouTube video offering a Republican vision on key issues raised by the governor.
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Senate and House GOP leadership said their decision to present the alternative view via the popular video-sharing Web site was inevitable given the public's growing appetite for following public affairs over the Internet.
The Republicans said they hope their realistic approach to creating jobs and fixing the state's roads and bridges will resonate with a far broader audience on the Web than it would through a traditional press release.
Senate Republican Caucus Chair Mike Kopp, of Littleton, appeared with his counterpart from the other chamber, House GOP Caucus Chair Amy Stephens, of Monument, to talk frankly about how the Republicans view the state of the state.
"We are making use of relatively inexpensive technology to reach out to Coloradans in way that is still in its infancy here at the the General Assembly," Kopp said afterward. "We want to let people know that we understand the problems that many of them are facing and that we have a plan to help. YouTube seemed like the best way to get that message to as many people as possible."
Senate GOP chief Josh Penry, of Grand Junction, quipped that YouTube was an obvious venue for the Republicans' take on Ritter's views because it showed how they were the lawmakers most "with it" under the Gold Dome.
"YouTube has played a growing role in politics for some time now, and a lot of individual officeholders use it to communicate with constituents," Penry said. "It only makes sense to use it as a platform for some legislative traditions like this one, too."
During his opening remarks the day before, Penry jokingly pointed to his own tech savvy by announcing to a packed Senate chamber that he "is first Senate Republican leader to own an iPod." The quip was part of a promise Penry made not to fix the estimated $600 million deficit by placing taxes and fees on everything from iPods to soft drinks, just as lawmakers in New York recently did to address its budget crisis.
The video was also distributed to members of the television news media on DVD in a higher resolution and better quality format.