Could Kony 2012 Change Politics?

The nonprofit behind the video called out 12 policymakers, including Mitt Romney.

A week ago, if you would have asked someone what Kony 2012 was, they would not have known what you were talking about. But with the help of a few social media shares, three trending twitter topics, and a special shoutout from the White House, almost everyone and their great-grandmother have seen the promotional video — more than 70 million, that is. Now, the video is the fastest growing viral video of all time.

The 30-minute documentary-style promo was created by Invisible Children, a not-for-profit, to “make Joseph Kony famous.” Not to celebrate him, but to aide in his capture and imprisonment — for kidnapping children, forcing some into war activity and killing others.

Their strategy is fairly simple: target 12 policy-makers and 20 culture makers. And they've actually used a political campaign approach to their marketing; if you look closely, you see a strong resemblance between an Obama 2012 poster and a Kony 2012 poster. They have succeeded in reaching a few people. Oprah added her support early on and so did Ryan Seacrest.

If you’d look at the list of policy makers they’re targeting, you’d notice that Mitt Romney is among them — the only presidential hopeful that is. President Obama, was given a big shoutout in the promo video for sending 100 “advisors” to Uganda last year but Mr. Romney is the only Republican nominee to be listed. What an interesting little addition to their marketing campaign.

[ALSO READ: New Kony Video To Be Released]

As of yet, there’s been no word on what Mitt Romney and other GOP presidential nominees are doing about Kony 2012 — whether they are supporting the cause or just ignoring it. However, Mitt Romney is the only person who doesn’t really have to do anything. In fact, he’d be better off not saying anything at all, especially with all the controversy surrounding the organizations, finances and use of facts. He doesn’t need another scandal surrounding money.

In the coming weeks, this may be something to look out for — whether the GOP candidates stand for or against social causes like these, social causes that completely disregard a political party’s stance on a particular country and foreign policy and demands action. Could this be a growing trend of politicians making more policy decisions initiated completely by the people? We can only keep our eyes peeled on the targeted policymakers and the GOP candidates and hope.