GOP Ready For Its Close-up

The Republican Party generally isn’t synonymous with creative endeavors. But that hasn’t stopped the National Republican Congressional Committee from casting its nets for a little online inspiration.

The House Republicans’ cash-strapped campaign arm quietly launched a contest earlier this month to find an undiscovered Steven Spielberg among the party faithful. The NRCC unveiled the “Your Direction” video contest to ask loyal Republicans to submit their homemade productions for an online campaign through YouTube.

The campaign is looking for a user-generated ad to stir some enthusiasm for the committee online.

The GOP has lagged significantly behind its Democratic rivals for years on the Internet. And NRCC aides are trying to boost the committee’s presence through online videos and contests like this one. The committee garnered 13,000 submissions and votes for a similar contest earlier this fall to create a new media slogan. The winner: “Has the Democratic Congress worked for you?”

The committee is now encouraging supporters to craft an ad to promote that slogan. The videos can’t be longer than a minute, and judges at the committee will review each entry before posting the top five submissions on its website. Voters will then have the chance to decide the winning entry.

The victor gets a $500 gift card from Apple — along with some other stuff, including an on-camera interview on the committee website, to promote the original creation.

No word on a movie deal, though. So Republicans obviously have a long way to go before they carry the same weight in Hollywood as their Democratic rivals — with all due respect to the Governator.