Could "The Rock" Change the '08 Presidential Race?

It took almost a month for it to really 'hit' but a short video on YouTube uploaded on May 27th could perhaps be the most Earth shattering online political video yet of the 2008 presidential campaign.
For more than a minute, former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel and current candidate for the democratic presidential nomination sternly stares at the camera before turning around throwing a rock into a lake and walking away.
Yes, instead of attacking his opponents or stating political hyperbole, he throws a rock in the water.
What does it all mean? Well it turns out this video wasn't produced by his campaign in the first place. Rather two 24-year-old art teachers in the bay area requested he take part, and without Lew Dobbs beating down his door (Gravel is currently running about 1 percent in the polls) he agreed, and spent a day shooting three segments.
Two of the segments are currently making the rounds on YouTube, The Fire, in which Gravel collects wood from a forest and builds a fire, and the more publicized video, The Rock. Since its release Gravel has been gaining traction on the internet, likely helped by the dozens of policy speeches that are show up next to The Rock on YouTube.
UnknownParameters had a great comment on the message board:

First the rock now a fire. His state of the union [address] would be an hour of silence followed by him taking [off] his right shoe.

Will it help Gravel win the election?
It most likely won't be enough, but this is a former senator with so little name recognition before that newscasters covering the videos have have been mis-pronouncing his name with a hard 'a' yet hardly anyone knows to correct them.
Webisodes are not a new thing to the 2008 race though. At first there was the "Let's Start a Conversation" videos from the client camp, then there was the spoof the iconic 1984 Apple ad featuring Big Sister Clinton (using the conversation videos) produced by Obama supporters. Most recently there were a series of webisodes coming from the Clinton camp leading up to a Sopranos spoof announcing their campaign song that made us wonder why, if he is such a bad actor did we ever believe Bill about the Monica thing.
But Gravel's video is something more than those. They were at best well done political ads that talk about issues directly but quickly turn people off, the best they get is a mild chuckle. Gravel's videos, even if it wasn't his intention, have branded him as the independent free spirit that he wants to be known as. They've given him tens millions of dollars of name recognition, and perhaps the first chance that he has yet had in this race.
Many reports touted his most recent debate appearance as his most impressive appearances yet, which may be--in part--due to confidence gained by a solid online conversation about his candidacy. But now the question is... where to go from here.
Building on a small group of young tech savvy fans, Gravel could create a ground swell by capitalizing on these troops and getting them to spreed his message. Use user generated content to get teens and 20-somethings with too much time to start recruiting their friends and build a base that can shake his black sheep label.
The spots are clever and intelligent and though may not be beating down doors with the issues he cares about, like tax reform and getting troops out of Iraq, but they do make people want to listen. And when was the last anyone wanted to hear what a politician had to say? These webisodes are a job well done.