Obama’s web team whipped up a frenzy this week with an edgy YouTube video imagining a victory by Sen. John McCain. They used archival footage of Tom Brokaw announcing the news, and the video climbed to the top of YouTube — besting celebrities, SNL clips and the Sarah Palin montages that dominate political hits at the web site. But this afternoon, NBC stripped the video off the web by filing a copyright claim with YouTube.

It’s a setback for Obama’s field program, which has used viral organizing to register and mobilize new voters.  The video promoted a dedicated voter portal, VoteforChange.com, that helps people register to vote.

It’s also bad time because there are only five days until the registration deadlines in the key states of Colorado, Florida, Ohio, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.

When Republican delegates check-in to their hotel rooms in St. Paul this week, they will receive a “thank you” message on their televisions. An ad called “Thanks For The Memories,” produced by Campaign for America’s Future, will broadcast unforgettable moments from the last eight years that conservatives wish the country would forget. With Hurricane Gustav on the nation’s mind, the ad reminds viewers of the bungled response to Hurricane Katrina. It also highlights skyrocketing gas prices, soaring home foreclosures, the infamous “mission accomplished” banner…

The Campaign for America’s Future is a major progressive organization, and this effort is designed not only to cross enemy lines, but draw media attention (like this!) and fire up liberal supporters. The effort has already raised thousands online.

Another liberal group, however, with far less funding and no headquarters, is also running ads in St. Paul this week.

Many activists who criticized Sen. Barack Obama for changing his vote on surveillance have organized an ad campaign targeting the Republican National Convention. Jon Pincus, who helps organize the “Get FISA Right” group — to reform the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act — recently emailed me about their goals. (We came into contact online while both working against the FISA Amendment Act.) Pincus says civil-liberties activists can pivot from criticizing Obama to helping him beat McCain — who is worse on these issues:

We believe we’re much more likely to get meaningful reform with an Obama administration … from a timing perspective, the man’s got an election to win; as Obama supporters, it’s important for us to criticize his opponent as well as him. We think that [running ads during the RNC] is an effective way to take up Obama on his invitation to continue to engage in a dialogue — while simultaneously getting publicity for the FISA issue and starting to lay the groundwork for the battle next year.

One homemade ad invites Republicans to join a “new movement that puts the Constitution above politics.” Like the other effort, the ultimate goal is to leverage a targeted ad buy to reach voters far outside St. Paul