That was the simple premise of the Obama campaign’s dramatic intensification of its YouTube outreach in the homestretch of this long race.

Obama's channel has hundreds of videos.

New data shows the campaign’s official YouTube channel is breaking records, topping 2 million viewers a day at its peak.  That number does not include the millions of views for campaign-related videos posted by third parties.

Sen. John McCain’s official YouTube channel, by contrast, remains steady at just under a quarter of a million views a day.

The statistics are from TubeMogul and TechPresident.com:

Viewership of Obama's official YouTube channel from the past three weeks.

As I explained last week in Obama Rallies the YouTube Vote, the campaign’s new-media team recently juiced its channel with more videos, topping 10 a day, and more star power — from targeted appeals from Google CEO Eric Schmidt to celebrities like Jay-Z, Nas, Wyclef and Natalie Portman.

Many observers have focused on Obama’s lead over McCain in paid media, such as last week’s prime time infomercial, a pricey ad aimed at undecided and low-information voters. And ads targeting undecided voters are still the most influential megaphone for campaigns. Yet Obama’s success in using free online media, both to energize base supporters and recruit volunteers, appears to be paying huge dividends — and it’s not something McCain can dismiss based on the fundraising gap.