Back during the 2006 campaign, I posted a couple of short video clips from interviews with Thomas Ravenel. They were what seemed relevant at the time. One showed him explaining the "alpha and beta" of investment risk; the other had him telling an anecdote about GOP financier Mallory Factor — I posted the latter one just because we had an op-ed from Mr. Factor in that day’s paper.

But this week’s news caused me to go back to check clips I didn’t use then, to see what might be interesting now. I was reminded of what those interviews were like, and the impression Ravenel projected: Young, cocky, brash, arrogant — the smartest guy in the room (just ask him, he’d tell you).

Maybe you’ll see some other things when you look at them.

Here are three clips that seem particularly revelatory of his persona:

Thomas Ravenel trash-talks Rick Quinn — This was from the editorial board interview on May 24, 2006, during the GOP primary contest. In an ETV debate a few days earlier, Ravenel and former Rep. Rick Quinn had really mixed it up. Asked about that, this is how Ravenel responded. After that, Cindi Scoppe teased him a bit about his failed efforts to get elected up to that point, which he tried to accept with good grace.

Ravenel: "I don’t want to have someone lecture me" — In this one, recorded on Sept. 28, GOP nominee Ravenel expressed his contempt for Board of Economic Advisers Chairman John Rainey, a guy with many years of public service to his credit. That dispute, which got very contentious, leading to Mr. Rainey — a Republican who is largely credited with having recruited Mark Sanford to run for governor — to challenge Ravenel to a televised debate.

Thomas Ravenel: "I’m intellectually curious" — This is how, during the same interview as the Rainey remarks, Ravenel explained why he would be a better treasurer than longtime incumbent Grady Patterson.

My most-viewed videos have shifted rather dramatically since April. You’ll recall that last month, I noted that the five most popular videos from my blog were these:

1. Joe Biden at Rotary — 1,608 views.
2. Nazi Presidential Candidate Defends Confederate Flag — 1,098
3. "He Makes Up Stuff" — 833.
4. The Alpha and Beta of Thomas Ravenel — 662
5. Nazis Defend Confederate Flag II — 657

I predicted that the Nazi videos would continue to climb, contrary to the views of those who thought I should shut up about the flag. Mind you, I’m not claiming it’s been the kind of viewership one seeks out, but there definitely is high interest out there, read what you will into it. Here’s the current Top Five line-up:

1. "Nazi Presidential Candidate Defends Confederate Flag" — 2,770 views
2. "Joe Biden at Rotary" — 1,769
3. "Nazis Defend Confederate Flag II" — 1,455
4. "Who Resurrected the Electric Car?" — 1,273
5. "He Makes Up Stuff," 849

Note how the classic, character-driven films of the Golden Age lie stagnant, while the flashy, lurid, sensationalistic stuff rolls right over them. I guess that’s why local TV news tends to be as awful as it is — that’s what people want to see.

It is nice to see the critically-acclaimed "Electric Car" doing so well, though.

One of our anonymous correspondents expressed concern that I was running away readers by posting so much about the flag this past week. Never fear, bud; page views are up.

Here’s another measurement I just noticed…

I’ve learned a lot (mostly about infuriating little technical stuff) since I started putting video on the blog. One thing I’ve learned is that only a small number of the people who go to a given post bother to watch the video. This makes it hardly worth the trouble by the standards of a better time manager than myself, but it’s fun and challenging, so I still do it from time to time.

My all-time, record, most popular video ever was the low-res one I shot on my phone of Joe Biden speaking at my Rotary Club last year — with a grand-total of 1,608 views (in YouTube terms, barely a hiccup).

That was posted Nov. 27, 2006.

No. 2 on the charts, with a speeding bullet, is the one I posted Saturday of the Nazi presidential candidate speaking in praise of the Confederate flag at the State House. In four days, it’s chalked up 1,098 views. I expect it to soon become number one.

So there is interest in the topic.

While I’m promoting video, I think you can check out the entire collection at once. Let me know if this link doesn’t work. They range from the "infamous" Grady Patterson "He makes stuff up" vehicle to a bit of phone-video I shot late one night at a bar (but never posted about) when former State staffers were seeing off Lee Bandy upon his retirement.

But in the spirit of Nick Hornby, in case you’d prefer not to browse, here are my Top Five, as judged by the rather standoffish viewing public:

1. Joe Biden at Rotary — 1,608 views.
2. Nazi Presidential Candidate Defends Confederate Flag — 1,098
3. "He Makes Up Stuff" — 833.
4. The Alpha and Beta of Thomas Ravenel — 662
5. Nazis Defend Confederate Flag II — 657

As you can see, I have no more scruples than Hollywood when it comes to pandering with sequels. If it works at the box office, the cheap hucksters at bradwarthensblog studios will trot out "Nazis II" before you can go out for popcorn. There’s even a "Sieg Heil" short for fascists with microscopic attention spans (which I suspect is a large part of that demographic).

You’ll notice that the arty stuff that the critics love — such as the five-star Who Resurrected the Electric Car?, trails the blockbusters, although I was pleased to see it got 550 views. It was pretty low-budget.

Another analogy — if this were the Billboard list, the Nazis and the flag would be the Beatles of early 1964 — multiple positions on the chart. Of course, that would make last year’s S.C. treasurer race the Elvis of the blog. Or maybe Sinatra. But I should point out that a Ravenel sequel, and a Grady prequel, both bombed.

See you at the movies.