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Racy 'Obamagirl' Video Takes Web By Storm

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Racy 'Obamagirl' Video Takes Web By Storm

Could 'Crush On Obama' Song Be Crushing Obama Campaign?

By wcbstv.com Producer Steve Fink
NEW YORK (CBS) ― Just call her "Obamagirl" and just call it the number one hit on the "R&P" charts, that is, Rhythm and Politics.

A satirical, MTV-esque video released online this week which portrays a buxom voter affectionately obsessed with presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama is the latest craze in the Web video world, and its creators say it's just the beginning of many more laughs to come.

"I Got A Crush On Obama," debuted Tuesday along with the launch of the Web site it promotes, BarelyPolitical.com. Advertising executive Ben Relles, 32, came up with the idea for the video while walking home from work one day, but never did he think the steamy song would create such a stir and receive worldwide attention, with many political outlets questioning how the seemingly harmless video will actually affect Obama's campaign.

"I knew we had a great song and as soon as I saw the first edit of the video I knew we had a great video," Relles told wcbstv.com. "I felt like it was a good mix of something that's really topical and a really catchy song. That said, I didn't think it would do quite what it did."

What it did was generate over 540,000 views on YouTube alone by noon Friday while making headlines as far away as Australia.

That's because the video features a voluptuous voter identified as "Obamagirl," played by 24-year-old model and actress Amber Lee Ettinger, who goes way over-the-top in displaying her adoration for the Illinois Senator. The song begins with the girl calling Obama on her cell phone, saying, "Hey 'B', it's me. If you're there pick up, I was just watching you on C-Span."

A few scenes later, she poses in a pink bikini next to a cutout of the famous photo of a shirtless Obama gallivanting along a beach. "So I put down my Kerry sign/Knew I had to make you mine/Smart, black, and sexy you're so fine," she proudly sings.

The video was filmed in a span of just six or seven hours during one afternoon in midtown Manhattan, including such spots as Columbus Circle and the 42nd Street Bryant Park subway station.

Though the song doesn't delve too deep into Obama's political background, it does make some amusing twists out of his policies. "You're into border security/Let's break this border between you and me/Universal health care reform/It makes me warm," she sings, holding her arms as if the thought of health care reform gave her the chills.

The song was actually sung by 21-year-old aspiring recording artist Leah Kauffman. Kauffman and Relles, who are both from Philadelphia, had worked together before when they created another Web hit spoof of a Saturday Night Live skit making fun of boy band songs.

This latest hit, which Relles said cost a few thousand dollars to create, wasn't necessarily meant to be their endorsement for Obama.

"We all do like him and I think that he's definitely an inspiring guy, but that said it wasn't really about making a political statement so much as it was about doing something funny," Relles said.

The Obama campaign quickly came out to say it had no part in making of the video, likely because some of the Obama faithful may be offended by the racy video. Some of the lyrics allude to sexual activity in the Oval Office, and some of the clips of the video offer close-ups of the scantily clad Obamagirl. Relles certainly hopes the Obama campaign also finds humor in the piece.

"The election isn't for another year-and-a-half, so realistically this one video that was really a satirical piece isn't really gonna have an impact on the campaign itself. There's no intention here to harm his campaign at all," he said.

Relles said the song will be the first of a series of satirical political videos for his new Web site. He hopes the site becomes a "central hub" for political and election humor generated by both the sites editors as well as its users.

"There will be a lot more spoof, whether it's music or other things related to the election," he said. "The good thing is in the next year there will be plenty of stories obviously related to the election that are front page news. So it would satire on those kinds of things."

(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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